The Triumphalism of American Wild West Shows
From the 1880s to the 1930s, hundreds of Wild West shows encouraged white audiences to view Native American culture as a rapidly vanishing curiosity.
Pius “Mau” Piailug: Master Navigator of Micronesia
Mau used traditional skills to guide a canoe from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti, sharing his navigational knowledge with others to keep the wayfinding traditions alive.
Cape Town, South Africa
Although the apartheid era continues to cast its shadow on Cape Town, many of its neighborhoods have been enjoying a renaissance as tourist destinations.
Hassan Fathy and New Gourna
Fathy rejected European ideas of modernism, arguing that Egypt could draw on its own regional histories to develop a national aesthetic.
As Militaries Adopt AI, Hype Becomes a Weapon
Few things provoke quite the same amount of anxiety as the effect AI could have on warfare.
On the Rocks
Ice harvesters once made a living from frozen lakes and ponds, and the international ice industry was a booming business. Then refrigeration came along.
Punitive Portraits of the Renaissance
The Italian legal tradition called for the public display of a humiliating—but recognizable—portrait of the disgraced person.
The Cutting-Edge Cartoons of Winsor McCay
A prolific, meticulous artist, McCay created characters and storyscapes that inspired generations of cartoonists and animators.
Tenzing Norgay: The Mountaineer Who Refused to be Categorized
By remaining vague about his own biography, Norgay called into question the idea of nationhood and made a deafening point about actions speaking louder than words.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Sandy beaches and luxury hotels seem to define this Caribbean nation, but it’s the music and architecture that truly speak to its complicated history.