The French Revolution as Illuminati Conspiracy
The Illuminati was a real secret society. But in the hands of British conservatives during the French Revolution, it became a massive conspiracy.
How Medieval Arabic Literature Viewed Lesbians
As far back as the ninth century, doctors and poets wrote about women who loved women without calling them deviants.
Our Space Brothers Might Not Actually Look Like Little Green Men after All
If we find aliens, chances are they'll be nothing like we ever imagined.
A Recipe for Ancient Wildfires
The earliest wildfires raged long before humans, and they only needed three ingredients to get started.
The Red Scare and Women in Government
In 1952, a government administrator named Mary Dublin Keyserling was accused of being a communist. The attack on her was also an attack on feminism.
What Do Sugar Skulls Mean on El Día de los Muertos?
The iconography of Mexico's Día de los Muertos has become wildly popular outside Latino communities. But where did the skulls and skeletons come from?
Plant of the Month: Dittany
Did women in the premodern world have much agency over reproduction? Their use of plants like dittany suggests that they did.
The Brooklyn College Farm Labor Project of the 1940s
The coronavirus pandemic left farmers falling back on students to pick crops. But it certainly wasn’t the first time.
Breathing Machines, New Fires, and Life on Venus
Well-researched stories from Aeon, Yale 360, and more great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Class and Choice in “Mommy Track” Jobs
During a childcare crisis, it's important to listen to mothers who have made sacrifices for their kids. But not all sacrifices are identical.