How Pentecostalism Shaped Rock ’n’ Roll
Early rock and roll performers, including Little Richard and Elvis, were influenced by the sounds and tropes of Pentecostal worship services.
Raccoons in the Laboratory
The lab rat is now a symbol of science, but psychologists once believed that raccoons presented unique potential in the study of animal intelligence.
Genesis of the Modern American Right
During the Great Depression, financial elites translated European fascism into an American form that joined high capital with lower middle-class populism.
How a Rice Economy Toppled the Shogun
The co-existence of economies—one based on rice, the other on money—pushed the Tokugawa government toward financial misery and failure.
Richard Gregg: An American Pioneer of Nonviolence Remembered
Gregg was one of the first translators of Gandhi’s methods of nonviolent resistance for the West.
The Gift of the Grange
Originally a secret society, the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry today is an important health and education resource in rural communities.
L. M. Montgomery’s Plain Jane
Though not as well known as Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill also explores domesticity, freedom, and, yes, Prince Edward Island.
Remembering the Rumble in the Jungle
The 1974 Rumble in the Jungle was freighted with symbolism regarding American racial politics and the pan-African struggle in the context of the Cold War.
Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?
The belief that animals cross the “Rainbow Bridge” to an afterlife is relatively new and not part of any formal theology, yet many Americans embrace it.