The Myth of the Papal Toilet Chair
Legend holds that newly elected popes in the Middle Ages had to present their genitals for inspection to confirm that they were male.
“Now We Can Begin”: Annotated
To mark the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, activist Crystal Eastman described the path to full freedom for American women.
The Question of Geophagy: Why Eat Dirt?
Scientists have three theories about why people and animals eat dirt.
Game, Saw, Conquered: Nationalism in Indonesian Video Games
Whether in cutscenes or gameplay, multi-player video games can help rewrite history or encourage an investment in national sovereignty.
“Burned House” Mystery: Why Did This Ancient Culture Torch Its Own Homes Every 60 Years?
The arsons were no accident, archaeological evidence suggests.
Meat and the Free Market
Significant political changes in three major global cities fueled experimentation with laissez-faire economics, which had peculiar effects on the meat market.
Music Only for a Woman: The Birth of Easy Listening
A 1970s radio format geared towards the "feminine psyche" featured musical rearrangements with softer and gentler styles of the day's hits.
Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s The Kim Sisters
The diversification of talent on American variety shows obscured the reality of race relations in the United States during the Cold War.
From Bond Maid to Pioneering Chinese Businesswoman
Raised as a servant girl, Lai Ngan grew up to become a cigar maker, own a boarding house, and run grocery stores in the American Southwest.
The Gruesome History of Ohio’s “Fingers in the Jar”
Three of Mary Bach’s fingers, hacked off by her murderous husband in 1881, were displayed in a jar for more than a century in Bowling Green, Ohio.