Eileen Gray: Architect In Her Own Right
Without formal training as an architect, Gray created magnificent designs that sensitively blended traditional craft with a modern aesthetic.
Mbarak Mombée: An African Explorer Robbed of His Name
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Mbarak Mombée was critical to the success of the most celebrated nineteenth-century European expeditions in Africa.
Not All Forms of Carbon Removal Are Created Equal
The carbon market and offsetting system have created “carbon cowboys” and perpetuated forms of neo-colonialism and other inequities.
Bundling: An Old Tradition on New Ground
Common in colonial New England, bundling allowed a suitor to spend a night in bed with his sweetheart—while her parents slept in the next room.
PG-13: Some Material May Be Inappropriate
The creation of the PG-13 rating in 1984 can be traced to a few key films: Poltergeist, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Gremlins.
Nuremberg: City of Dreams and Nightmares
From a mercantile powerhouse in the Middle Ages to a stage for genocidal horror in the twentieth century, Nuremberg has played a pivotal role in German history.
Paul Revere Williams: An Architect of Firsts
The first African American architect licensed in the state of California, Williams blazed a trail to the (Hollywood) stars.
James Holman, the “Blind Traveller”
Once a celebrated travel writer, Holman struggled to find a publisher for his books thanks to a Victorian reluctance to witness his disability.
Grilling the Globe
Could meat taxes help to curb over-consumption of beef and mitigate climate change?
Reading “The Book of Nature”
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the natural world was viewed as a Christian parable, helping humans to give divine meaning to plants, animals, and the heavens.