The Long History of Sexpionage
How honey traps evolved from human seduction to digital deception in the changing world of espionage.
Where Dance Meets the Spirit World
The history of kuda kepang, the Javanese horse dance whose trance rituals continue to spark religious debate.
The Many Lives of Libraries
These stories span centuries and continents, revealing how libraries have shaped culture, politics, and public life.
James Baldwin’s Complicated Relationship with Psychoanalysis
Baldwin criticized Freudian thinking yet drew on ideas like repression in his fiction and essays.
Beyond Body Counts
Who records the victims of war, and why documenting every death matters after the fighting ends.
The Greek Tragedy Behind Suddenly Last Summer
A reinterpretation shows how Euripides's The Bacchae illuminates Tennessee Williams's play and its haunting final act.
Taking Alien Life Seriously: The Origins of Exobiology
The search for extraterrestrial life began with an unexpected question: How could humans keep from destroying the evidence?
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.