Questions for the Age of Automation
Back in the 1960s, scholars were making predictions about what the Age of Automation would look like. Where they right?
What The War of the Worlds Had to Do with Tasmania
H. G. Wells's famous science fiction novel imagines what would happen if Martians did to Great Britain what Europeans did to Tasmania.
Indigenous Reserves and the Future of the Amazon
Swathes of the Amazon rainforest are set aside for Indigenous peoples to manage. While they aren't conservation areas, they are important to the ecosystem.
People Who Can’t Feel Pain
While exceptionally rare, congenital analgesia, or a total insensitivity to pain, is a real condition that can be quite dangerous.
Light Bulbs for Beauty
When electric lighting was first introduced to U.S. households, marketing departments tried to convince women that better lighting would be flattering.
Ai Weiwei’s Readymade: Politics
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been making political waves for decades, but his current shows are especially relevant to the United States.
How Business Got Risky
The word “risk” took on new meaning in the 19th century, when it became a way of understanding the interactions between individuals and economic markets.
William Goldman and the Mystery of Screenwriting
Authorship of Hollywood screenplays is often a complicated matter. But William Goldman was truly a writer in Hollywood.
Why Do Americans Eat Three Meals a Day?
A Curious Reader asks: What’s the origin of the familiar breakfast-lunch-dinner triad?
Digestion, Hangovers, and Sinister Magic
Well-researched stories from Slate, Public Books, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.