Bernadette Mayer

Everyday Life, Revisited—with Bernadette Mayer’s Memory

In the poet’s work, the small and ordinary rise to the level of heroic adventures. If we value human life, then we should value what makes up a life.
People wait in line to enter a supermarket which has limited the number of shoppers due to the coronavirus on April 10, 2020 in Brooklyn, NY

COVID-19 Is Hitting Black and Poor Communities the Hardest

The viral pandemic is underscoring fault lines in access to care for those on margins.
A tunnel of carious speckles and colors

How to See the Invisible Universe

Telescopes that detect long-wavelength signals offer clues about the Big Bang, the centers of black holes, and the origins of life.
Jennifer Nuzzo

Jennifer Nuzzo: “We’re Definitely Not Overreacting” to COVID-19

Johns Hopkins epidemiologist and infectious disease expert Jennifer Nuzzo on why vaccines aren’t the answer, how COVID-19 is unique, and how to stay safe.
The CIA logo over a Jackson Pollock painting

Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?

The number of MoMA-CIA crossovers is highly suspicious, to say the least.
Mme du Coudray

How a French Midwife Solved a Public Health Crisis

Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray revolutionized childbirth in France through education, building a detailed birthing mannequin.
Women administer two drops to a child in India

Two Drops of Life: India’s Path to End Polio

On the eve of its 6th polio-free anniversary, India immunizes over 170 million children, despite a lack of roads, reinfection threats, and a periodic mistrust of vaccines.
An advertisement for Teenform Bras

How Training Bras Constructed American Girlhood

In the twentieth century, advertisements for a new type of garment for preteen girls sought to define the femininity they sold.
Doris Day in Calamity Jane

Doris Day Changed Us Forever

What did women coming of age in the 1950s think of Doris Day in Calamity Jane? Does her filmography have the same meaning now?
Lawyer Inez Milholland, wearing white cape, seated on white horse at the National American Woman Suffrage Association parade, March 3, 1913, Washington, D.C.

Why Did the Suffragists Wear Medieval Costumes?

Medieval costume was a standard feature of US women’s suffrage parades, often with one participant designated as Joan of Arc.