Publication Title

The Bulletin of the National Tax Association

Peter the Great cutting a Boyar's beard

Cabinet of Curiosities

Peter the Great’s Beard Tax

Why did the Russian tsar seek to ban beards?

A person saving a parking spot by laying down on the concrete.

When Did We Start Paying to Park Our Cars?

A Curious Reader asks: When and why did parking become monetized?

Editors' Picks

Politics & History

Guns in America: Foundations and Key Concepts

This non-exhaustive list of readings on the role of guns in US history and society introduces the field as a subject of scholarly inquiry.

Politics & History

American as Apple Pie

How marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.

Politics & History

“I Have A Dream”: Annotated

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic speech, annotated with relevant scholarship on the literary, political, and religious roots of his words.

Politics & History

When Uptown Chicago was “Hillbilly Heaven”

In the 1960s, white Appalachian workers attempted to put down roots in Chicago by building an integrated model neighborhood called Hank Williams Village.

Science & Technology

Who Wants the Metaverse?

What exactly is the “metaverse,” and what could it be, beyond an overused, hyper-trendy prompt in marketing copy?