Fanny and Stella, 1869

Trans-lating the Story of Fanny and Stella

The Victorian-era trial of Fanny and Stella has been variously interpreted over the years. But what if it was a trans narrative all along?
Students hold space at the Pro-Palestinian "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" in the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 29, 2024 in New York City.

Why Call for Divestment?

Students are calling for their universities to divest from companies involved in the manufacturing of arms used in Gaza. How effective is this strategy?
Onlookers gaze upon and photograph the Northern Lights at Chanticleer Point Lookout on the Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours of May 11, 2024 in Latourell, Oregon

Aurorae and the Green of the Night Sky

On the historical hunt for the origin of the enigmatic green line in the spectrum of the aurora borealis.
Students attending a lesson in lecture hall

Heritage Bilinguals and the Second-Language Classroom

So-called heritage learners are forcing educators to rethink and reframe their approaches to teaching second languages in the classroom.
IceCube Neutrino Observatory in 2023

IceCube Detector Confirms Deep-Space “Ghost Particle” Phenomenon

IceCube scientists have detected high-energy tau neutrinos from deep space, suggesting that neutrino transformations occur not only in lab experiments but also over cosmic distances.
Stirring sunken vats in the interior of a soap factory, 1771

A Potash Primer

Ash from burnt wood, weeds, bracken, and kelp helped fuel the Industrial Revolution.
A prisoner under escort at the South Western Front during the Irish Civil War, 1922

Lessons for American Zionism from the “Free Ireland” Cause

In the early twentieth century, American Zionists were inspired by what they saw as parallels with the political objectives of Irish nationalists.
An 1890s advertising poster showing a woman in fancy clothes (partially vaguely influenced by 16th- and 17th-century styles) drinking Coke

Who Took the Cocaine Out of Coca-Cola?

The medical profession saw nothing wrong with offering a cocaine-laced cola to white, middle-class consumers. Selling it to Black Americans was another matter.
Justice John Marshall Harlan

The Great Dissenter’s Complications

Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan I argued the US Constitution was color-blind. He also believed it stood in defense of white supremacy.
Collier's illustration for E. W. Hornung's Raffles short story "Out of Paradise" by J. C. Leyendecker, 1904

The Joy of Burglary

In the early 1900s, a fictional “gentleman burglar” named Raffles fascinated British readers, reflecting popular ideas about crime, class, and justice.