The Drama of Point d’Alençon Needle Lace
In its heyday, lace was beautiful, expensive, and handmade. Naturally, lace smuggling became the stuff of legend.
Filler Words and Floor Holders: The Sounds Our Thoughts Make
So, well, okay, um, like, you know, right?
Elizabeth Keckley’s Memoir Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four in the White House
Keckley’s decision to write about her employers from the viewpoint of a household laborer—she was seamstress to Mary Todd Lincoln—enraged audiences.
The Nimatron
The world’s first video game made its debut at the Westinghouse pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939. Read all about it!
Introducing “Archives Unbound”
In her new column, Dorothy Berry offers an inside look at the work of the digital archivist, while highlighting forgotten figures in Black print culture and public life.
Words on the Way In: A Retrospective
The first installment of a new column on living language: talking about COVID (talk)
Hot Air Balloon Launch Riot!
In the early days of ballooning, launches were prone to failure. When failure looked imminent, the crowd’s mood would begin to turn.
The 1918 Flu Pandemic’s Impact on Movie Theaters
With WWI coming to end, 1918 should have been a good year for the movies. Then along came influenza.
Why Narendra Modi Presents Himself as a Guru
Drawing on traditions of monastic power, Modi’s party is trying to promote the image of India as a vishwaguru, or teacher to the world.
Even in Kazakhstan, Bitcoin Can’t Escape Geopolitics
People in Kazakhstan have been protesting energy prices, and met with violence by the government. What does Bitcoin have to do with it?