Death by Crowding
In the aftermath of tragedies, it's easy to focus on the assignation of blame. But how well do we understand the causes of crushing crowds?
Proposition 6 (The Briggs Initiative): Annotated
Proposition 6, better known as the Briggs Initiative, was the first attempt to restrict the rights of lesbian and gay Americans by popular referendum.
Halloween: A Mystic and Eerie Significance
Despite the prevalence of tricks and spooky spirits in earlier years, the American commercial holiday didn’t develop until the middle of the twentieth century.
The Horror!
If Dracula represented the collective fears of his day, what do the likes of Slender Man and other internet monsters tell us about the zeitgeist of right now?
A Colorblind Compromise?
“Colorblindness,” an ideology that denies that race is an organizing principle of the nation’s structural order, reaches back to the drafting of the US Constitution.
Pro-Epidemic Stigmatization
Prejudice and moralism interferes with public health, aiding and abetting the spread of the HIV and monkeypox viruses.
Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Speech: Annotated
Five months before his assassination in 1978, Harvey Milk called on the president of the United States to defend the rights of gay and lesbian Americans.
Muslim Women and the Politics of the Headscarf
For many women, wearing the hijab was—and is—an element of piety, but it's been coopted into a political symbol.
How Poor Women Shaped the War on Poverty
Bridging the gap between policy and people was a central aim of the War on Poverty. Often, women were the ones who linked the government to the community.
ADHD: The History of a Diagnosis
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has been a controversial diagnosis since it was first described, back in the 1940s.