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?
Holiday Supply Chain Issues of Ancient Rome
Hey, at least we’re not trying to track down frankincense and myrrh.
The Cabarets of Heaven and Hell
In 1890s Paris, cabarets in bohemian Montmartre gave visitors a chance to tour the afterlife.
Cedric Robinson and the Black Radical Tradition
Cedric Robinson proposed that the Black radical tradition was necessitated into existence by “racial capitalism.”
Venus of the Sewers
The Roman sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, was presided over by a goddess whose shrine stood near the Forum.
How Wet-Nursing Stoked Class Tensions
“[N]o man can justly doubt, that a childs mind is answerable to his nurses milk and manners.”
What Is Critical Race Theory?
Critical race theory has become a focus of conservative legislation, often with little understanding of its meaning and history.