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That’s Disgusting
While disgust originally protected us from potential poisons, it eventually gave rise to culturally defining flavors and odors, all perhaps tied to local microbes
March 05, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
The Aftermath of Mountain Meadows
The massacre almost brought the United States to war against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but only one man was brought to trial: John D. Lee
February 29, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Arabic Manuscripts: It Used To Snow in Iraq
Baghdad was the bustling capital of the vast Islamic Empire a thousand years ago, when the city's climate was much different than today
February 27, 2012 |
By Virginia Hughes
Peeling Open the 1947 Chiquita Banana Cookbook
What do ham banana rolls with cheese sauce and salmon salad tropical have to say about politics?
February 24, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
“A Precise, Beautiful Machine”: John Logan on Writing the Screenplay for Hugo
The Oscar-nominated writer tells how he adapted Brian Selznick's bestseller for the screen.
February 24, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
Scientists Move Closer to Creating an Invisibility Cloak
As far as the microwaves were concerned, the 7-inch-long tube did not exist -- is true invisibility that far away?
February 16, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Nothing Out of the Ordinary: Squirrel Stewed, 1878
A collection of old community cookbooks reflects a changing ecology and a cultural shift: the decline of hunting, chitlins and pig's feet
February 15, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
General Grant in Love and War
The officer who gained glory as a warrior in the Civil War also had a domestic side.
February 14, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Everything You Wanted to Know About Food and Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
What is the term for a "euphoric sensation upon eating amazingly delicious food"
February 14, 2012 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Brotherhood Spirit in Flesh Soup, or a Recipe Calling For Love
The counterculture has long been characterized by a single word: “love.” For some hippie communards, love was also a recipe ingredient
February 13, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Charles McIlvaine, Pioneer of American Mycophagy
"I take no man's word for the qualities of a toadstool," said the man who took it upon himself to sample more than 600 species
February 08, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Bedtime Reading From Beatrix Potter: Amateur Mycologist
Would Flopsy, Mopsy and Peter Cottontail have been conceived had it not been for the biases of Victorian era science?
February 06, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Super Bowl Guide to Football Films
The sport was initially fodder for slapstick comedy, but as the technology evolved, so did the way in which filmmakers portrayed the gridiron on the big screen
February 01, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
Revisiting The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Recently reissued, William L. Shirer's seminal 1960 history of Nazi Germany is still important reading
February 2012 |
By Ron Rosenbaum
Saving the Whales (And Eating Them Too?)
What does whale meat taste like, and is it anything like jojoba oil, prosciutto or jellied crustaceans?
January 27, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
The Allure of Nonexistent Places
Long-gone destinations have their own special appeal, don't you think?
January 24, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
History Writers to Watch in 2012
A rundown of historians, authors and bloggers to follow in the coming year
January 19, 2012 |
By Brian Wolly
The Stalking of the President
Charles J. Guiteau said he wanted to kill President James A. Garfield "in an American manner." He passed up several opportunities before he thought the time was right.
January 17, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Essentials: Charles Dickens
What are the must-read books written by and about the famed British author?
January 17, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Q and A: Judy Blume
The children's book author speaks about her career and what it means to write a "banned book"
January 2012 |
By Jeff Campagna
