The Stethoscope – 99% Invisible
In the early 1800s, an invention came along that changed everything. Suddenly the doctor could clearly hear what was happening inside the body. The heart, the lungs, the breath. This…
What hunter-gatherer gut microbiomes have that we don’t, and breaking the emoji code
Sarah Crespi talks to Sam Smits about how our microbial passengers differ from one culture to the next—are we losing diversity and the ability to fight chronic disease? For our…
Police Torture in Chicago
An archive of articles by John Conroy on police torture, Jon Burge, and related issues
The Soprano Who Upended Americans’ Racist Stereotypes About Who Could Sing Opera
Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was in many ways the nation’s first black pop star
Hooked on the Heavens: How Caroline Herschel, the First Professional Woman Astronomer, Nearly Died by Meathook in the Name of Science
How a paragon of persistence in the face of hardship discovered eight comets and paved the way for women in science.
The English We Speak: Donkey’s years
Why has Rob got a donkey in the studio?! It's probably got something with today's authentic English phrase which is about not doing something for a long time. How long…
The Artsy Podcast, No. 37: Why Good Artists Make “Bad” Paintings
The genre of “bad painting” is a slippery one. On this podcast, we discuss the label, which has been applied to a wide-ranging group of artists throughout the 20th and…
The Great Dismal Swamp – 99% Invisible
On the border of Virginia and North Carolina stretches a great, dismal swamp. The Great Dismal Swamp, actually — that’s the name British colonists gave it centuries ago. The swamp…
Gauguin’s Stirring First-Hand Account of What Actually Happened the Night Van Gogh Cut off His Own Ear
Certain relationships are charged with an intensity of feeling that incinerates the walls we habitually erect between platonic friendship, romantic attraction, and intellectual-creative infatuation. One of the most dramatic of…
Kara Walker, ‘Tired of Standing Up,’ Promises Art, Not Answers
Kara Walker with her art installation at the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn in 2014.Credit...Abe Frajndlich for The New York Times By Blake Gopnik Aug. 16, 2017 “I am tired,…