The Birth of the Modern American Debt Collector
In the 19th century, farm loans changed from a matter between associates into an impersonal, bureaucratic exchange.
The Invention of Journalistic Objectivity
In the contemporary United States we tend to expect journalists to separate fact and opinion. It's actually a relatively new phenomenon.
Why You Should Visit a Farm This Summer
Agritourism may sound like a hot new trend, but it's actually been helping farms stay in business for over a century.
How Janet Flanner’s “High-Class Gossip” Changed America
The journalist's witty Paris Letters for the New Yorker helped establish Americans' feelings of superiority over Europe.
How Dietary Supplements Can Cause More Harm Than Good
The real problem with useless vitamins and other supplements? A psychological side effect known as "illusory invulnerability."
Paying for Love in the Caring Economy
Is it terrible to have to pay someone to care for your loved ones? Or could it actually be an effective way to establish a high standard of care?
Blame Your Inner Child For Your Brand Affinities
Research shows that the advertising we see in childhood stays with us for a very, very long time.
A 19th-Century Catfishing Scheme
In the late 1800s, a U.K. scheme lured lonely bachelors with newspaper advertisements supposedly placed by wealthy women.
Ed Hardy Changed Tattooing Forever
Trained as a printmaker, this artist helped change American tattooing from a fringe behavior into an art form people use to express themselves.
Pulp Fiction Helped Define American Lesbianism
Between 1950 and 1965, steamy novels about lesbian relationships, marketed to men, inadvertently offered closeted women much-needed representation.