The First Black American to Reach the North Pole
Matthew Henson partnered with Robert Peary on seven Arctic adventures, but their final success brought an end to a longstanding collaboration.
Cape Verde’s Dilemma(s)
While increased tourism may be a boon to the economy, increasing numbers of visitors may harm the environmental wonders that draw outsiders to the islands.
Urban Planning, Then and Now
Humans have been designing cities for millennia. California Forever is just the newest entry in a long list of planned communities around the world.
What’s A World Without Climate Justice?
The climate crisis has weaponized emergency for the sake of action, overlooking the injustices inflicted on vulnerable communities for centuries.
Water Logs
Log drivers once steered loose timber on rivers across America before railroad expansion put such shepherds out of work.
Athanasius Kircher’s “Musical Ark”
The first algorithmically generated music came to us in the seventeenth century, courtesy of Kircher and his Arca musarithmica.
The Serpentine Career of Loïe Fuller
Rising from the ranks of touring comedies and Wild West shows, the American dancer dreamed of a future of light, movement, and metamorphosis.
Florence Baker, Unsung Survivor
Narrowly escaping slavery herself, Baker risked her life to repress the Saharan slave trade, sought the source of the Nile, and challenged Victorian social conventions.
Gibraltar: Where Two Worlds Meet, the Monkeys Roam
Home to the genetically unique Barbary macaques, Gibraltar serves up an intriguing mix of European cultures to residents and tourists alike.
Searching for Queer Spaces
The dominant heteroview of architectural history means we may lose our queer spaces and their histories before we even know they exist.