Judith Butler

Judith Butler: The Early Years

Before Judith Butler’s 1990 book Gender Trouble, the influential gender theorist wrote a series of essays that offer easier access to their ideas.
A woman's hands inspecting a cannabis plant

The Environmental Downside of Cannabis Cultivation

Wide-scale cannabis cultivation is causing environmental damage. Federal regulations could change this.
Protestors from lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity Stonewall, carrying a banner reading 'Lesbian & Gay Rights are Human Rights' during the Gay Pride parade in London, England, United Kingdom, 6 July 1996

The Stonewall Riots Didn’t Start the Gay Rights Movement

Giving Stonewall too much credit misses the movement’s growing strength in the 1960s, sociologists note.
Portrait of William Blake, 1807

William Blake, Radical Abolitionist

Blake’s works offer an alternative to the failures of the Enlightenment, which couldn’t muster a consistent argument for abolition.
Empress Joséphine holding a Jacquemus Mini Le Chiquito handbag

A Mini History of the Tiny Purse

The purse has always been political, a reflection of changing economic realities and gender roles.
Shipping Boat at Sea

What Is a Tariff? An Economist Explains

A global trade war seems well underway as China and the US exchange targeted tariff attacks. An economist explains what they are.
The number 2

The Quantum Random Number Generator

It’s real. And it will use quantum entanglement to generate true mathematical randomness. Here’s why that matters.
George Orwell

Think Again

Rereading W. H. Auden, George Orwell, and James Baldwin in times of crisis.
A hand holding a magnifying glass looking at pages with different fonts

The Font Detectives

For typography experts like Thomas Phinney, the history of the printed word is crucial to weeding out fraud.