The Joy of Eating in Utopia
The early socialist Charles Fourier had grand ideas about food. The pleasure of eating was right up there with sex.
Nittel Nacht: The Jewish Christmas Eve
'Twas the night before Christmas, and an undead Jesus walked the earth. No wonder early modern Jews played games and sang songs to scare him off.
Murderous Elves, Silent Moths, and Modern Phrenology
Well-researched stories from Atlas Obscura, Physics World, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
You, Too, Can Screen an Experimental Film
In the 1960s and '70s, where and how a film was shown was often as important as the work itself.
The Rise and Fall of Montana’s Christmas-Tree Harvest
Douglas firs weren't great for lumber, but they once made the small town of Eureka the Christmas-tree capital of America.
Ione Quinby, Chicago’s Underappreciated “Girl Reporter”
She started off as a "stunt" journalist and moved into covering stories about women and crime in the Roaring Twenties.
How the Fascists Rewrote Spanish National History
National origin stories can be the stuff of fancy. Francoist Spain also showed how quickly those stories could be rewritten.
The Deadly Bilibid Prison Vaccine Trials
In 1906, physician Richard Strong's already-unethical vaccine experiment went horribly wrong. Then it was swept under the rug.
Roald Dahl’s Anti-Black Racism
The first edition of the beloved novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory featured "pygmy" characters taken from Africa.