The Allure of the Millionaire Family Drama
The reason we put aside our personal dislike of rich TV families, people we might deeply resent if they were real, is two-fold.
How Much Carbon Will It Cost to Read This Story?
Just how significant is the internet’s carbon footprint?
Oscar Wilde’s Pamphlet: “Children in Prison and Other Cruelties of Prison Life”
Wilde's description is heart-wrenching, but that doesn't hold him back from the usual wit and drama that characterize his writing.
The Ancient Art of Brewing with Stale Bread
Brewers are once again making beer from things that typically end up in one’s household trash, a 7,000-year-old custom.
Nobody Really Knows Why We Dream
An extensive literature review reveals a startling lack of consensus around why we dream, though neurologists have made important discoveries.
The Columbian Exchange Should Be Called The Columbian Extraction
Europeans were eager to absorb the starches and flavors pioneered by the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
The Pious Undead of Medieval Europe
Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg's eight-volume history contained stories of the living dead—and, he believed, proof of the Christian resurrection.
A “Cook’s Tour” of Imperialism
Thomas Cook and Son Ltd. pioneered middle class tourism during the Victorian era, when it followed the course of the British Empire.
Where the Small Fish Clean the Bigger Ones
A "cleaner station" is a sort of undersea business, a place where large, often predatory, fish go to have parasites removed.
Who Decides Which Books Are “Great?”
The concept of “Great Books," the historian Tim Lacy explains, developed in the late nineteenth century as an attempt to foster a “democratic culture.”