President John F. Kennedy fields a question at a press conference on April 14, 1961, in Washington, DC. This press conference took place three days before the failed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Cuba and just three months into Kennedy's presidency.

How the Bay of Pigs Invasion Changed JFK

The disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, early in John F. Kennedy's presidency, led him to reconfigure his foreign policy decision-making process.
The Guerrilla Girls

The Guerrilla Girls Are Back for Hollywood

These anonymous activists have been stirring things up in the art world since the 1980s, and they've just released another thought-provoking poster.
Los Angeles

Why Is It So Much Hotter in the City?

On a sunny day, a city can be several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside. Could better building materials make cities absorb less heat?
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_jewellery_made_from_human_hair_in_a_case.jpg

Why Victorians Loved Hair Relics

Victorians were mesmerized by the hair of the dead -- which reveals something about about how they saw life.
Barbara Hammer

A Legendary Filmmaker’s Notes on Teaching

Experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer was also a teacher, and wrote about how she kept the "artist-self" alive while working her day job.
Astronauts Anne McClain during her ASCAN EVA Skills 3 Training. Photographer: Lauren Harnett

How Women Helped to Develop the First Spacesuit

NASA recently cancelled an all-female spacewalk, citing a lack of spacesuits. Ironically, women played a key role in creating the very first spacesuits.
Richard Wright

Richard Wright Helped Bring Mental Healthcare to Harlem

The famous novelist worked to fight the psychological cost of black oppression.
A yellow vest protester in Paris, France

Do the French Just Like Protesting?

France's Yellow Vests have been protesting for months on end. Such protests are an integral part of France's culture.
Collage of contemporary poets

10 Ekphrastic Poems

Broadly defined, an ekphrastic poem describes another work of art. Here are some by Ocean Vuong, Aziza Barnes, Robert Hayden, Frank O’Hara, Danez Smith, and more.
A Wafer of the Latest D-Wave Quantum Computers

What Is a Quantum Computer?

Researchers claim to have turned back time inside a quantum computer. Meanwhile, most of us are still trying to wrap our minds around what that even means.