How “Termites of the Sea” Have Shaped Maritime Technology
These small marine pests have been eating our ships for millennia, forcing us to keep building better boats throughout history.
The Radicalism of Johnny Cash
The best-selling musical artist in the world in 1969, Johnny Cash sang of (and for) the "forgotten Americans": the imprisoned men of all races.
Wreath-Making in National Parks? In Mexico, Yes
Mexico created its national parks system in the 1930s. Today, hundreds of thousands of people live, and work, within its boundaries.
The Snowy Winter that Devastated Colonial New England
For eleven days in February and March 1717, New England was hit with four major snowstorms. The devastation struck some as a sign from God.
Food and Culture
Food is complicated. That creation you love from The Great British Baking Show? It's been the subject of arguments over culture, identity, and copyright.
Charity Scams of Yore
Between the 1850s and 1940s, a charity scam worked a collection circuit of Evangelical Christians in least five hundred towns across eighty countries.
Ms. Magazine’s Tricky Relationship with Advertising
On the fiftieth anniversary of Ms. Magazine, a look back at how the publication managed advertising demands while maintaining its founding ethos.
Women in Science Textbooks
A team of scholars examined the seven most popular ecology textbooks. Guess what they didn't find?
Trinity: Real Hero of The Matrix?
While Neo may be the One, he’s not the character who gets the action going in the first film—that’s Trinity.
In History, The Past is the Present is the Future
If the past is so all terribly bad, then aren’t we lucky in the present?