The Numbers vs. the Lottery
Between the 1960s and 1980s, state governments created lotteries to supplant illegal gambling operations that brought revenue to marginalized communities.
How Do You Like Your Steak? Rare, Medium, or Bright Blue?
In 1973, an experiment with dyed food and colorful lights had participants vomiting up their half-finished meals. But did it really happen?
Attacking Italians in Louisiana
Italian immigrants had no qualms about working and living alongside Black Americans, which made them targets for violence by white vigilantes in Louisiana.
Battery X: A Secret Test of Women at War during WWII
Although their contributions have been largely forgotten, women played an active role in Washington DC’s air defense system during World War II.
Juke in the Box
The jukebox turned listening to music into a performative act. With a single coin, listeners could share their musical taste with everyone in the place.
Lai Teck, International Man of Mystery
A Vietnamese double agent who infiltrated and led the Communist Party of Malaya in the 1930s, Lai Teck also spied for the British and the Japanese.
Buddhist Pacifists at War
In the early centuries of Vajrayāna Buddhism in India, practitioners worked to reconcile the religion’s teaching of nonviolence with the realities of warfare.
Did Inbreeding Cause the Woolly Mammoth’s Extinction?
Research suggests it was more sudden than that.
The Barrier-Breaking Ozark Club of Great Falls, Montana
The Black-owned club became a Great Falls hotspot, welcoming all to a music-filled social venue for almost thirty years.