Paganini's Bloodletting Kit 
Courtesy of Schubertiade Music & Arts

The Vampire Virtuoso? Paganini’s Bloodletting Kit Is for Sale

Paganini's personal bloodletting kit contains three domed-shape glasses with brass twist spouts and a brass scarification (scraping) tool.
Photo of a young boy spending summer vacation with his two moms on the beach.

Should Sperm Donors Have Visitation Rights?

A lesbian couple from New Jersey now find their most intimate decisions at the center of a precedent-setting appeal about sperm donor visitation rights.
Lincoln's funeral in DC

Forgetting Abraham Lincoln

Sarah Browne’s neglect of Lincoln, compared with the ceaseless remembrance of her daughter, did not lessen her desolation over the assassination.
Saint Patrick stained glass window from Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA.
By Sicarr (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Will the Real St. Patrick Please Stand Up

The "St. Patrick" celebrated on March 17 every year has never existed. He was, and is, a metaphorical, literary, and religious conceit.
Sara Plummer Lemmon Botanist

Sara Plummer Lemmon: Pioneering Botanist

Botany didn’t just intrigue and entertain Sara Plummer Lemmon—it deeply affected her personal life.
Female prisoners at Parchman sewing, c. 1930 
By Mississippi Department of Archives and History [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

A History of Women’s Prisons

While women's prisons historically emphasized the virtues of traditional femininity, the conditions of these prisons were abominable.
croissants with calorie count

Can Information Fight Fat?

New FDA regulations requiring prepared food retailers to disclose calorie content are counting on it to fight fat.
National Geographic photo of David Blehert.

Bats with White Nose Syndrome: An Interview with David Blehert

Blehert interviewed about bats with White Nose Syndrome. White-Nose Syndrome is a fungal disease that's killed over six million bats in the past nine years.
By Unknown; distributed by Epoch Film Co. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

“Birth of a Nation”: 100 Years Later

The Birth of a Nation—1915's blockbuster hit and the most popular movie of its day—was released 100 years ago this month.
Ghettoized book cover

Ghettoside: Murder & Justice in South LA

Detective Wallace “Wally” Tennelle was a rarity: a cop who actually lived in the South Los Angeles neighborhood where he worked.