What Life Was Like During the London Blitz
During WWII, 150,000+ people sought shelter in London's Tube stations each night. Over time, the various stations developed their own mini-governments.
The Genetics of Cousin Marriage
It's conventional wisdom that procreation between first cousins is unhealthy. But what are the actual genetic risks?
The Romanticization of the Mediterranean
The idea that the disparate nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea represent a single region is the product of the nineteenth century.
The Bisbee Deportations
According to one scholar, the 1917 deportation in Bisbee, AZ wasn't "about labor relations or race or gender: it was about all of them."
Trial by Combat? Trial by Cake!
The medieval tradition of deciding legal cases by appointing champions to fight to the death endured through 1817, unlike its tastier cousin.
The Controversy Around the First Museum Dinosaurs
Dinosaur bones on display at the American Museum of Natural History always balanced conveying objective truth with promoting science to the public.
The Religious Experience of Antiques Roadshow
What has made this slow, quiet television show about antiques the sleeper hit of PBS? One scholar describes the show as enacting near-religious rituals.
The Woman Who Refused to Leave a Whites-Only Streetcar
In 1854, Elizabeth Jennings rode the streetcar of her choice, in an early civil rights protest that led to desegregating public transportation in NYC.
Would You Like Some Germs with Your Wheaties?
To fulfill the increasing protein demand, scientists turn to microbes.
Ancient Music, Corporate Giants, and Normal Psychopaths
Well-researched stories from Aeon, the Cut, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.