A man scrambles up a gully on the Crestone Needle in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado.

How Science Might Help Keep Wild Places Wild

Recreation researchers are studying how to minimize human impact on public lands while maximizing accessibility.
An act to carry into further execution the provisions of an act passed in the third and fourth years of His present Majesty, for compensating owners of slaves upon the abolition of slavery

Imperfect Memories of British Slavery

British abolition in 1833 was accompanied by £20 million paid in compensation to slaveholders, many of whom subsequently "forgot" slavery ever existed.
Joshua May

Joshua May and the Search for Philosophical Nuance

In his teaching and his research, philosopher Joshua May reminds us that binary, all-or-nothing arguments often rest on false dichotomies.
Cross Reference image

“Kapow!” It’s Time for Cross Reference

This month’s crossword puzzle features an onomatopoeic opener!
Mary Oyama

Dear Deirdre: The Japanese American Agony Aunt

Using the nom de plume Deirdre, California-born writer Mary “Mollie” Oyama Mittwer offered advice on changing gender roles and cross-ethnic relationships.
Passengers pass through the TSA checkpoint at the Miami International Airport on December 17, 2024 in Miami, Florida

Going Through TSA While Trans

The TSA’s Secure Flight Program, instituted in 2009, makes gender into an object of state surveillance.
Grace Hopper at the UNIVAC keyboard, c. 1960.

Talking with Machines: Computer Programming as Language

The proliferation of different types of computing machines in the 1950s enabled—or perhaps forced—the creation of programming languages.
The Canada Lumberman, 1882

French Canadians in the New England Woods

Immigrants from Quebec held a distinct position in an American labor landscape in which experts viewed different “races” as being suited to different kinds of work.
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson: A Vote for Cutting Off Your Nose

To reduce Virginia’s use of the death penalty, Thomas Jefferson proposed using permanent disfigurement as a punishment for rape, polygamy, and sodomy.