Inside a Nineteenth-Century Quest to End Addiction
In 1880, Dr. Leslie E. Keeley promised a cure for the disease of drunkenness. The community he developed influenced our understanding of treating addiction.
On The Black Skyscraper: An Interview with Literary Critic Adrienne Brown
Early skyscrapers changed the ways we see race, how we see bodies, how we perceive and make judgments about people in the world.
Four Hard Truths about Fake News
Skeptical, self-aware interaction with digital data is the critical foundation upon which democracy may be maintained, explains media scholar Alexandra Juhasz.
Thanksgiving Is a Feast of Things Forgotten
Thanksgiving is a feast so complex and semiotically dense that things are very often forgotten and rarely go according to plan.
Is Audio Really the Future of the Book?
The upsurge in audiobooks and podcasts illustrates our heightened interest in digital storytelling, but does listening really count as reading?
How The Baby-Sitters Club Reflected Our Dreams of Safety
In The Baby-Sitters Club, each girl has agency.
Why James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time Still Matters
For James Baldwin (1924-1987), the fundamental premises of American society needed revisiting. How we might view #BlackLivesMatter through his lens.
The Surprising Historical Significance of Fortune-Telling
The possible futures predicted by fortune-telling happen just often enough to tantalize, preying on our deepest aspirations of catching a "big break."
Student Writing in the Digital Age
Essays filled with "LOL" and emojis? College student writing today actually is longer and contains no more errors than it did in 1917.
The First Celebrity Chef
Alexis Soyer frequently cooked for royalty and dignitaries, but also displayed a healthy social conscience.