A cartoon illustration of Brigid in Puck, 1883

From Saint to Stereotype: A Story of Brigid

Caricatures of Irish immigrants—especially Irish women—have softened, but persist in characters whose Irishness is expressed in subtle cues.
Embroidery of a ginger cat with a mouse on a chequered floor made by Mary, Queen of Scots

Prisoners’ Pastimes

Isabella Rosner’s Stitching Freedom showcases embroidered works made by the incarcerated and examines this craft’s historical popularity behind bars.
Up the Junction by Nell Dunn

Up the Junction: A Place, A Fiction, A Film, A Condition

In addition to a New Wave hit, Nell Dunn's 1963 book about young women in a poor London neighborhood inspired a Ken Loach adaption that helped shift British attitudes toward abortion.
A rose, Zéphirine Drouhin, against a black background

What Do Gardens and Murder Have in Common?

Writers have long plotted murder mysteries in gardens of all sorts. What makes these fertile grounds for detective fiction?
Camellia sinensis

Camellia sinensis: Labor and the Tea Plant

Consumed as tea around the world, Camellia sinensis raises questions about plantation labor practices and the environmental impact of monocultures.
JT Roane alongside the cover of his book, Dark Agoras: Insurgent Black Social Life and the Politics of Place

Historian J.T. Roane Explores Black Ecologies

Considerations of climate change and environmentalism have for too long paid no mind to where Black people live and in what conditions.
Mason's Island

Island in the Potomac

Steps from Georgetown, a memorial to Teddy Roosevelt stands amid ghosts of previous inhabitants: the Nacotchtank, colonist enslavers, and the emancipated.
From the cover of Volume 7, Issue 6 of The Angolite, 1982

The Cost of Inflation in Prison

In prisons across the country, the long history of legal forced labor intersects with present-day inflation.
Willie Mae Thornton

Willie Mae Thornton Deserves Your Full Attention

In a meditative new biography, DJ and scholar Lynnée Denise examines the mysteries and trials in the life of the legendary performer.
Dewdrops hang suspended from switchgrass at Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota.

Switchgrass: An Old Grass Gets a New Use

The perennial prairie grass used to cover large swaths of the American Midwest, creating vibrant ecosystems where birds, butterflies, and bison roamed.