When History is a Matter of “National Security”
Since the mid-1990s, Russian authorities have insisted on particular understandings of some parts of the country’s history as a matter of national security.
The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: Annotated
The Fugitive Slave Act erased the most basic of constitutional rights for enslaved people and incentivized US Commissioners to support kidnappers.
American Individualism and American Power
The American habitus was forged partly by the conquest of Native land and partly by the experiences of superiority and entitlement among white enslavers.
Pyramids of the Present
We associate pyramids with ancient civilizations, but contemporary humans appear to have an affinity for the peaked structures as well.
Modern Nomads in the Atlas Mountains
For pastoralists who live and work in the mountains of Morocco, the lifestyle is difficult but worthwhile. It’s also threatened by economic and climate change.
The Trouble with Reentry
Reentry of space junk in the 1970s forced First Nations communities into a reckoning with Cold War geopolitics and a burgeoning envirotechnical disaster.
When Singing Was a Crime
Calvinist reformers in sixteenth-century Geneva frequently punished people for immoral behavior—like singing.
Audacity and Gaslights: Empowering or Zombifying Citizens?
Political scientists Eric Beerbohm and Ryan W. Davis consider how citizens can protect against gaslighting while staying open to audacious ideas of change.
Dogs of the Moscow Metro
The public attitude toward the adventurous dogs who have mastered the Moscow metro system has roots in an egalitarian Soviet culture.
Justice in Baltimore
In an atypical case, a white policeman was convicted of killing a Black man at a private house party.