Existentialists in Malawi
Proverbs and popular songs from Malawi examine and express ideas similar to those found in European existentialism.
Autocratic Capitalism: An Introduction
Americans are taught that capitalism and democracy go together like motherhood and apple pie. It may be time to unlearn that lesson.
Cerbera odollam: “The Suicide Tree” That Harms and Heals
Even before The White Lotus, people feared the poisonous pong-pong tree, Cerbera odollam. But there's another way to look at the plant and its effects.
Art Deco: 100 Years Since the Paris Exhibition That Revolutionized Modern Design
The landmark event displayed competing interpretations of “the modern” in design, art, and architecture.
She’s the Very Model of a Modern Militant Woman
A gun-toting killer seems like an unlikely heroine for a nationalist classic novel, but that’s the story of Luang Wichit Wathakan’s Huang rak haew luk.
Electric Fish and the First Battery
Allesandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, the earliest electric battery, in part because of his investigations into the torpedo, an electric ray fish.
Social Mobility and the “Class Ceiling” in the UK
People from working-class backgrounds in the UK bump up against a "class ceiling" analogous to the glass ceiling women face in the workplace.
Bringing Turkish Style to Europe
In seventeenth-century Europe, architects adopted styles from the Ottoman empire to create new kinds of social spaces including public baths and coffeehouses.
What Veterans’ Poems Can Teach Us About Healing on Memorial Day
A scholar and military veteran proposes that poems written by veterans that focus on honoring those who have died in service can help heal an ailing nation.
A Primer on Settler Colonialism
What is this “settler colonialism” that’s become all the rage? Let’s take a closer look.