The First Futurists and the World They Built
From Saint-Simon to Silicon Valley, the urge to forecast the future has always masked a struggle over who gets to define it.
The Victory of Public Lands
Most Americans agree on the value of preserving public lands. How did the idea of public lands come about, and how can we ensure they exist in the future?
The President and the Press Corps
Theodore Roosevelt was the first White House occupant to seek control over how newspapers covered him.
Dates: Civilization’s Sweetest Indulgence
Offshoots from the “Tree of Life” traveled from Mesopotamia to the Levant to the United States, beguiling everyone with their toothsome confections.
Marseille: Independent, Industrial, and Mediterranean
From Caesar’s Commentaries to the modernism of Le Corbusier, the port city of Marseille has preserved a sense of individuality and industry.
Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchism
A fateful visit to a market in Moscow entirely upended Tolstoy’s view on life and society—and changed the trajectory of his work and purpose.
From Oriental Riviera to Global Asia: Hong Kong in Travel Posters
A collection of travel posters shared via JSTOR by Hong Kong Baptist University highlights Hong Kong’s unique place in the global imagination over the decades.
Transatlantic Studies: A Reading List
Using the Atlantic Ocean as a guiding metaphor, transatlanticism emphasizes the fluid nature of contrived national boundaries and identities.
Natural History: A Reading List
This annotated bibliography samples scholarship on the rich—and difficult—history of natural history.
The Murder Behind the George Polk Awards for Journalism
The murder of American journalist George Polk in Greece remains unsolved more than seventy-five years later.