From Chopsticks to Manners: How Parents Pass Culture to Children
Culture rarely arrives with a speech. Instead, it turns up wearing slippers, holding a bowl,…
Gladiatrices: The Fighters Rome Tried to Forget
Gladiatrices, or Female gladiators occupy a strange, uncomfortable corner of Roman history. They are not…
Asado: Argentina’s Slowest, Loudest, Most Serious Meal
In Argentina, cooking meat has never been a side activity. It sits at the centre…
When Laundry Meant Fire: Why Victorians Boiled Their Clothes
Boiling your own clothes sounds like a punishment invented by an especially vengeful appliance manufacturer.…
The Confucius We Know and the Confucius Who Actually Lived
Confucius is usually imagined as a finished statue: calm face, flowing robes, hands folded in…
Nuclear Power and the Climate Clock
Nuclear power has an odd talent for vanishing and reappearing. One decade it sits behind…
Why Germ Theory Sounded Absurd to 19th-Century Doctors
For much of the nineteenth century, medicine lived in a world where danger had a…
The History of Snowboarding, From Snurfer to Olympic Sport
Snowboarding did not begin as a sport anyone planned to take seriously. Instead, it arrived…
The After-Shop High Street
There was a time when the high street knew exactly what it was for. You…
The Great Stink That Transformed London
Summer in London can be rather lovely. Parks brimming with picnickers, the Thames glittering in…
Roman Funerary Lions and Why the Dead Needed Guardians
Roman funerary lions have a habit of staring straight through you. They sit stiff-backed on…
Two Million Years of Rain
Rain sounds nice at first. However, it becomes tiring when it keeps returning month after…
Is Good Socialism Still Possible in the 21st Century?
People ask whether “good socialism” still feels possible in the 21st century in much the…
Aliens: They’re There, Just Not Talking to Us
The universe has a talent for raising expectations and then refusing to follow through. For…
The Genie Was Never Meant to Live in a Lamp
The genie and the lamp feel inseparable. At first glance, a glowing vessel, a curl…
The Dark History of Chimney Boys
When London burned to the ground in September 1666, nobody could have predicted the horror…
The Statins Scare: What the Evidence Actually Shows
Statins have become some of the most emotionally charged pills in modern medicine. They are…
Absinthe Conspiracy: The Green Fairy Myth
There’s something rather irresistible about a drink that promises to drive you stark raving mad…
Tartaria Theory and the Seduction of a Forgotten Empire
The Tartaria theory often begins with a map and a raised eyebrow. Someone notices the…
Herodotus and the Ancient Art of Asking Why
Herodotus arrived in the world around 484 BCE, in the city of Halicarnassus, on the…
No Bob, No Reggae, No Hope: Imagining a World Without Bob Marley
Imagine waking up tomorrow and discovering that reggae simply doesn’t exist. Not merely absent in…
Tukdam: What Lies Between Life and Death
Somewhere in the mountains of Tibet, monks have been quietly defying the rules of death…
Assyrian Complaints: People Always Loved a Good Moan
When you think about ancient Assyria, what springs to mind? Mighty conquering armies, perhaps? Towering…
How Your Brain Learns to Forget About Tinnitus
Your brain is an exquisite liar. Right now, there are socks on your feet. You've…
Why Octopuses Are Earth’s Only Real Aliens
Swimming through the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean, an eight-armed creature glides past kelp…
Lamassu: The Ancient Guardians With Five Legs
Stand face-to-face with a lamassu, and you'll understand why ancient Mesopotamians believed these creatures could…
How Isaac Newton Became the Most Dangerous Man in London
Strip away the familiar image of Isaac Newton beneath an apple tree and a stranger…