Languages disappear twice. First, people stop speaking them. Later, the archive makes the disappearance look cleaner than it ever was. A language used in homes, markets, jokes, arguments, and work can leave almost no literature if another language controls government, schooling, religion, and durable writing. Ancient Galatian is a brutal example. Celtic-speaking migrants reached central…
by Keri Leigh Merritt Lillian Smith was a remarkable Southern white woman who fought to end segregation as early as the 1930s. She wrote multiple bestselling books which were censored, banned, and burned across the country. Unfortunately, many people have no idea who she is today. In the piece below, An Inconvenient Woman author and…
This December will mark for the people of Russia one of the most defining moments in their history; the 35th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A major world power that had existed for nearly 70 years, its collapse reflected other significant developments in Eastern Europe at that time, where long-established communist regimes…
NPR’s Anas Baba is one of the last remaining journalists in Gaza working full-time for an American news organization. A year into the ceasefire, more than 1400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, nearly 5,000 injured. And those numbers rise nearly every day. What has the last year looked and felt like on the…
In an age when women were seldom recognized for their accomplishments, Hilletie van Olinda, a biracial Mohawk-Dutch woman who rose to become the official interpreter of the English Crown in the 1690s, received ample praise from both prominent Native American chieftains and the leading Euro-American government officials of her day. And yet, few people today…
In the winter of 1916, a city that had begged the sky for mercy got exactly what it asked for, and then some. Within weeks, dams had burst, bridges had vanished, and an estimated twenty people were dead. Standing at the center of it all was a former sewing machine salesman who had promised San…
To conclude the series on King John and the Magna Carta it is vital to review the whole, due to the extensive consequences that a short period in history had upon the future. Therefore, by, the autumn of 1216, King John’s reign had become a desperate struggle for survival. The monarch who had once ruled…
The Erector Set construction toy has given joy to boys and girls throughout its existence in America. However, not many people know the man behind the creation of the Erector Set, A.C. Gilbert. He had an active and playful life in his youth. He achieved considerable success in athletics. His creation of the Erector Set…
The lives of Vincent van Gogh and Adolf Hitler are rarely considered together. Here, Nethmi Samaranayaka looks at two men who both hoped to make their way as artists, and at how the regime one of them led would later seize the paintings of the other. Vincent van Gogh – Self-portrait with grey felt hat.…
As Samia attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea, her Olympic dream collides with the deadly realities of one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices