reorient your hopelessness
change what you have faith in
Sled Dog Slaughter
Canadian history
Robber Barons, Marcel Duchamp, and Big Museums’ Dirty Little Secrets
In 1915, Marcel Duchamp bought a snow shovel at a hardware store in New York City. He inscribed his signature and the date on its wooden handle. On the evening…
A Victorian cult: inside the strange world of the Agapemone
In the 1840s, a strange, secretive community known as the Agapemonites set up camp in Spaxton, Somerset. Presided over by a rogue Anglican priest who believed he had a hotline…
How Recovering the History of a Little-Known Lakota Massacre Could Heal Generational Pain
smithsonianmag.com How Recovering the History of a Little-Known Lakota Massacre Could Heal Generational Pain Tim Madigan 46–59 minutes To reach the place known as Mni Tho Wakpala, the Blue Water, you…
This Erie County headstone tells a tale of a tragic moment in Girard history
On the eastern edge of Girard Cemetery, you'll find an unusual headstone featuring a century-and-a-half-old consumer tip, of sorts. And talk about tragic irony. The epitaph reads: "In memory of…
how early color photography worked.
a tutorial in Photoshop
This Savvy Librarian Was the True Force Behind New York’s Iconic Morgan Library
It fell to Belle da Costa Greene, a Black woman whose racial identity was kept secret for decades, to catalog J.P. Morgan’s immense collection of books and art Toward the…
Why the Creator of One of the First ‘Lie Detectors’ Lived to Regret His Invention
In order to catch liars, the ancient Chinese would sometimes give the accused a mouthful of uncooked rice during interrogation—and then ask the person to open wide. Dry rice would…
Back in the 19th Century, Your Election Ballot Could Double as a Work of Art
During and after the Civil War, inventive illustrations allowed Democrats and Republicans to turn American ballots into powerful propaganda A selection of ballots from the 1860s shows a variety of…