Women's Christian Temperance Union lecturing in a crowded bar in Pasadena, CA., 1947

The Forgotten Temperance Movement of the 1950s

Despite the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol consumption was an enormous political issue for many white American Protestants.
Early morning sunlight bathing an inlet on Florida's Emerald Coast

Microbots, Swamps, and the “Chitlin Circuit”

Well-researched stories from Knowable Magazine, Slate, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A collection of objects from the civil war

Patriotism and Consumerism in the Civil War

For a burgeoning consumer society, store-bought flags and bonnets offered proof that commercialism could go hand in hand with heartfelt emotion.
Florestine Perrault Collins

Challenging Race and Gender Roles, One Photo at a Time

Florestine Perrault Collins escaped the bounds of prescribed gender roles and racial segregation to run a successful photography studio in 1920s New Orleans.
Meji Jingu Shrine on December 15, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan

Sacred Trees in Japan

In the modern city of Tokyo, mature forests and trees form a spiritual bridge between past and present.
A butcher processes some meat at Vincents Meat Market on April 17, 2020, in Bronx, New York City

Zombies of the Slaughterhouse

The oppressions of Homo sapiens and other species in the US livestock industry aren’t distinct from one another—they’re mutually constitutive.
Humulus Lupulus No. 50 Common Hops, C. S. Rafinesque, Medical flora, 1828-1830. Rare Book Collection, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.

Plant of the Month: Hops

As the craft beer industry reckons with its oppressive past, it may be time to re-examine the complicated history (and present) of hops in the United States
Two moms playing with son in front of Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Kids Need Dads—Or Do They?

Data suggest that fathers can be fantastic, but there’s no magic ingredient they supply for children’s emotional, educational, or social development.
The New India Museum, Whitehall-Yard. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 3 August 1861.

Imperial Science and the Company’s Museum

The East India Company’s London museum stored the stuff of empire, feeding the growth of new collections-based disciplines and scientific societies.
A White-crowned Sparrow

A Noisy City Affects Birdsong

As anthropogenic ambient noise increases in urban areas, birds adapt their songs to make themselves heard.