Aerial shot of an autumn sunset over the Long Island Sound taken from Port Washington, NY

The Long and Winding Island

New York’s Long Island has long served as a backdrop for social and political conflicts between the newly arrived and the established residents.
Schröder-Schräder House

Building De Stijl Style

Piet Mondrian, co-founder of De Stijl, argued that the art movement wasn’t ready for architecture. Theo van Doesburg and others believed it was. Who was right?
Dancers prepare to enter the contest powwow at the 100th Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock Park on August 13, 2022

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Reading List

With scholarship on Indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, resistance, and decolonization, this list honors Native sovereignty and self-determination.
Women bowling, ca. 1900

The Bowling Alley: It’s a Woman’s World

Even when it was considered socially unacceptable, American women were knocking down pins on the local lanes.
Commercial and tourist docks of St. George's, Grenada.

Grenada: When the Cold War Got Spicy

The 1983 invasion of Grenada raised questions about the legitimacy of American reactions to a communist presence on the island.
Conceptual image of green server room.

Is AI Good for the Planet?

The algorithms that promise to predict wildfires and optimize energy grids are powered by servers that drink up rivers and belch out more carbon than cars.
Black and white photograph of Augusta Baker seated at a desk with papers spread out before her.

The Legendary Children’s Librarian of Harlem

Raised in a family of storytellers, Augusta Baker continued that tradition, imparting a love of books to readers of all ages.
Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany.

The Reichstag Building Rises

Built at the end of the 1800s and rebuilt a century later, Berlin’s Reichstag building has proven a malleable symbol of political and social values.
Saint Stephen and Saint Christopher

Christopher, the Dog-Headed Saint

Although the tradition has largely faded in the Western church, Saint Christopher sported a canine head through much of Christian history.
An acrobatic water skier performs during a show at Cypress Gardens theme park in 1953 near Winterhaven, Florida.

The Wonderful World of the Water Ski

Invented in 1922, water-skiing quickly became shorthand for American ideas on beauty, athleticism, and affluence.