How a Murder Fueled Racial Terror in Florida
The hunt for Charlie Wright exposed how convict leasing, labor tensions, and white supremacy shaped rural life in the Jim Crow South.
Why the Washington Monument Looks the Way It Does
For nearly a century, Americans argued over how to honor George Washington. The monument they built reflected those debates.
Born Without a Country
In Southeast Asia, colonial legacies and citizenship policies continue to leave hundreds of thousands without legal nationality.
The Secret Lives of Insects
Can fruit flies have dialects? Can dung beetles navigate by the stars? Find surprising answers in this collection of stories about bugs and people.
Reading the Maya with William S. Burroughs
Burroughs drew on the leading Maya scholarship of his day, much of which has since been overturned.
What Happened to the Bones of the American Bison?
The near-extinction of the bison sparked an industry that left almost nothing of the animals behind.
How Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema Imagined Ancient Rome
The Victorian painter drew on archaeology and ancient texts to create richly detailed scenes of love and excess.
The Debate Over Pictures in Science
Botanical illustrations helped bring science to new audiences—but not every scientist welcomed the change.
What Was Sewer Socialism?
Milwaukee mayor Daniel Hoan believed the best argument for socialism was a city government that worked.
The Rise and Fall of the Public Sandbox
A nineteenth-century experiment in children's play helped reshape American cities—and later fell out of favor.