How Earthquakes Helped Us Map the Interior of the Sun
Temperatures in the Sun's core exceed 10 million degrees Celsius. But how on Earth did we actually come to know that?
Ride ’em, Butteri!
Long before spaghetti westerns, Italians were turned on to an image of the American West by Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
When Enslaved Virginians Demanded the Right to Read
In 1723, a group of enslaved African Americans petitioned the Bishop of London to ensure that their children could attend school and learn to read the Bible.
Who’s Afraid of the Filipina Coed?
Cultural depictions of the "transpacific Filipina" reflected anxieties about the changing education and social roles of women in the Cold War Philippines.
Redeeming the Old Maid
Scottish-born novelist Elizabeth Hamilton used her characters to anticipate a future for herself in middle age as a confident and intelligent woman.
Data: Not Just Another Four-Letter Word
For early modern theologians, data were assumptions of truths for which there was no need for explanation. How things—and data—have changed.
Subversive Student Writing at Carlisle Indian School
In the early twentieth century, some Anishinaabe students turned writing assignments meant to showcase assimilation into celebrations of resistance.
Quinoa: Rise of an Andean Superfood
Once considered a minor crop for Indigenous communities, quinoa’s journey to worldwide stardom was centuries in the making.
Translating Corn
To most of the world, “corn” is “maize,” a word that comes from the Taíno mahizwas. Not for British colonists in North America, though.
The High-Flying Life of Mary Riddle
One of the first Native American women aviators, Riddle leaned into stereotypes to earn a name for herself in the male-dominated world of American aviation.