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Profs and Pints has expanded online using the Crowdcast platform to further democratize access to higher learning and provide people access to high-quality scholarly talks while social distancing. Below are both a schedule of upcoming talks and an archive where you can access to the recordings of great talks that you might have missed.  

Upcoming Talks

Recorded talks available for viewing

(Listed in chronological order, oldest to newest)

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U.S. Route 163 at Monument Valley in Utah.

The Great American

Road Trip

with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University. 

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Queen Guinevere's Maying, a 1900 painting by John Collier.

The Women of

King Arthur Legends

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at The Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

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Children were terrified on ending up in iron lungs during the 1953 polio epidemic. (Photo from Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, Downey, California.)

Epidemics in American History

with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University. (This talk remains free, but please share with friends to tell them about Profs and Pints Online.)


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Benjamin Franklin as depicted in a 1767 painting by David Martin. (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.)

The Nine Lives of

Benjamin Franklin

with Richard Bell, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. 

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Perhaps no one in your neighborhood

is quite as clever.

 

Raccoons Unmasked

with John Hadidian, urban wildlife expert and instructor in natural resources for Virginia Tech.

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An epidemiologist tests blood samples for pertussis during a 2010 outbreak in Ohio. (Photo from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.)

 

Understanding Epidemiology

with Cara Frankenfeld, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at George Mason University. 

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New York City's Deputy Police Commissioner

John A. Leach, right, watches agents waste good liquor on the city's rats following a raid.

(Library of Congress photo.)

 

Speaking of Speakeasies

a discussion of prohibition and its boozy effects, with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University.


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Alexander Hamilton as painted by John Trumball and George Washington as painted by

Gilbert Stuart.

 

Hamilton and Washington

a look at history underlying the hit Hamilton musical, with Denver Brunsman, associate professor of history at George Washington University and lecturer at Mount Vernon. 

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The Witch, No. 1, c. 1892 lithograph by Joseph E. Baker

 

Witches and Witch Hunts

with Mikki Brock, associate professor of history at Washington and Lee University and scholar of demonology, witchcraft, and early modern Scotland.

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Social distancing will be difficult in slums such as this one in Kenya, where droughts linked to climate change have exacerbated poverty and fueled migration from the countryside to cities. (Photo by Claudio Allia.)

Coronavirus and
Climate Change

with Olufemi Taiwo, assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and scholar of postcolonialism and issues related to environmental justice. 

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Rusalka and her daughter, an engraving by

I. Volkov published in 1899.

 

Mermaid Tales

a discussion of the enigmatic water spirits of Russia, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University. 

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Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) and her lawyer Gloria Allred on the steps of the Supreme Court, 1989. (Photo by Lorie Shaull.)

Before and After

Roe v. Wade

with Sara Matthiesen, professor of history and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at George Washington University. 

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Cthulhu as rendered by the artist Benoît Stella

 

Cthulhu and the Klan

a look at H.P. Lovecraft’s race problem, with Peter Herman. lecturer of theology and religious studies at Marymount University and scholar of religious and social themes in science fiction. 

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“The Plague at Ashdod,” a 1630 painting by Nicolas Poussin.

Covid-19, Humans, and Pandemics

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University's College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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A bank run early in the Great Depression.

(Social Security Administration photo.)

Our Current Crash and Economic History

with Trevor Jackson, assistant professor of economic history at George Washington University and teacher of courses on inequality and economic crises. 

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Asian Americans were involved with the Black Panther Party in a period when social movements conceived of identity in broader terms.

How the Elite Captured Identity Politics

with Olufemi Táíwò , assistant professor of political philosophy and ethics at Georgetown University and scholar of activism and the black radical tradition. 

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Some of us complain about "herding cats," but the Norwegian goddess Freya managed to get cats to pull her chariot.

 

Folkloric Felines

a look at cats in folklore and fairy tales, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at The Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

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The political power of John D. Rockefeller was the target of this Horace Taylor cartoon published in The Verdict, a magazine from his era.

Make America

Gilded Again?

a look at America’s “Gilded Age” and how it compares to our current time, with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University. 

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Five-Way Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, 1917. (National Portrait Gallery.)

The Art of

Marcel Duchamp

with Lisa Lipinski, assistant professor of art history at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and teacher of a graduate art history seminar on Duchamp and his legacy there.

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Silk Road explorer Aurel Stein and his team in the Taklamakan Desert, 1908. M. Aurel Stein, Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal Narrative of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China, vol. 2 (London: Macmillan, 1912)

Meet the Real

Indiana Jones

with Justin M. Jacobs, associate professor of history at American University and author of Indiana Jones in History: From Pompeii to the Moon. 

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A soldier stands guard on the corner of 7th & N Street NW in Washington D.C. near smoldering buildings destroyed during the 1968 unrest over the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Urban Uprisings

Then and Now

with Ashley Howard, assistant professor of history and African American studies at the University of Iowa, former assistant professor of history at Loyola University New Orleans, and scholar of urban unrest in the 1960s. 

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A mass arrest of Hong Kong protesters in May. (Photo by Studio Incendo/Wikipedia Commons.) 

Hong Kong—Laboratory for Cold War?

with Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center's Kissinger Institute on China and the United States. 

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Brothel, a 1562 painting by the Flemish artist Joachim Beuckelaer. 

 

Saints and Harlots

a look at women and sexuality in premodern Europe, with Amy Leonard, associate professor of history at Georgetown University and author of Nails in the Wall: Catholic Nuns in Reformation Germany. 

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The AIDS Memorial Quilt laid out beside

the Washington Monument.

(National Institutes of Health photo.)

Applying AIDS

Lessons to Covid-19

with Joseph Osmundson, professor of biology at New York University, expert on molecular microbiology, author, and queer activist. 

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Julie Newmar as Catwoman in 1966, during the first season of the Batman television series.

 

On Gender and Cats

a feminist exploration of how we think about felines, with Crys Stuvland, lecturer at Howard University and scholar of cats in popular culture. 

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Police patrol Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the 2014 killing of Michael Brown by a police officer. (Photo by Jamelle Bouie.)

 

On the Abolition of Police

with Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and scholar of activism, anti-colonial thought, and the Black Radical Tradition. 

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A belted kingfisher as painted by

John James Audubon.

 

The Wonder of Birds

an introduction to the basics of ornithology, with Peter English, scholar of avian biology and behavior, bird guide, and assistant professor of biology at the University of Texas at Austin. 

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From a police mug shot taken of Josef Stalin in 1902, when he was 23 years old.

 

What Drives Dictators

with Dean Haycock, neurobiologist, former instructor at Brown University, and author of both Tyrannical Minds and Murderous Minds

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Lin-Manuel Miranda in the title role of his musical Hamilton, April 20, 2016.

(Photo by Steve Jurvetson.)

 

Hamilton’s History Remix

a critical look at the musical and the people and events it depicts, with Richard Bell, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. (Talk on sale for $10. Ticket sales have been suspended pending several live staging of this talk.)

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The May 2017 removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Lee Circle in New Orleans. (Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Monumental Controversies

with Fred Bohrer, professor of art and archaeology at Hood College, art historian, and creator of the website Monumental Anxiety: An Anti-Guide to the Monuments of Washington, D.C. 

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A Sam Droege photograph of Augochlorella aurata, a common bee of the eastern North America.

 

Portraits of Bees

with Sam Droege, biologist at the U.S.G.S. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, developer of online identification guides to native bees, and guest lecturer at colleges and universities. 

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From a portrait of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton painted by Ralph Earl in 1787. (Museum of the City of New York.)

 

The Women of Hamilton

with Cassandra Good, assistant professor of history at Marymount University and author of Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early American Republic. 

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A blue shark off Portugal. Photo by Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons.

 

The Fight to Save Sharks

with David Shiffman, marine conservation biologist, environmental policy consultant, and adjunct instructor at Arizona State University’s New College.

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Pope Francis in 2014. (Photo by Jeffrey Bruno / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

The Mind of Pope Francis

a guide to understanding the current pontiff, with Brian Flanagan, associate professor of theology at Marymount University and author of Stumbling in Holiness: Sin and Sanctity in the Church. 

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An unknown artist's 1789 illustration of the Women's March on Versailles .

Women and the

French Revolution

a look at feminism's role and rise in France’s transformative conflict, with Amy Leonard, associate professor of history at Georgetown University. 

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“Tartini's Dream,” an 1894 illustration by

Louis Léopold Boilly of the legend behind Giuseppe Tartini's “Devil's Trill Sonata.”

 

Speak of the Devil

a discussion of Satan over the ages, with Mikki Brock, associate professor of history at W & L University and scholar of demonology, witchcraft, and early modern Scotland. 

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A very British wedding cake.

 

Britain Beneath the Frosting

a look at Brexit, baking shows, and other ingredients of a troubled empire, with Sam Wetherell, lecturer on British and World History at the University of York. 

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An aerial photo of 1950s suburban development in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

The Truth Behind White Picket Fences

a look at racism and other harsh realities in the idealized 1950s American suburb, with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University. 

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Image taken from "Am Not I a Man and a Brother," by an unknown artist. Design commissioned by the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787.

 

How Scientists Begat Racism

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University's College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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“Fairies in a Bird's Nest,” an 1860 painting by

John Anster Fitzgerald.

 

Folktales of Summer Forests

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at The Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

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George Washington, who served as president of the Constitutional Convention, is shown among slaves at Mount Vernon in this 1853 lithograph based on a painting by Junius Brutus Stearns. (Library of Congress.)

The Wickedness of the Three-Fifths Clause

a deep dive into the troubling hidden history of the 1787 federal Constitution, with Rick Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland. 

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Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy faces murder charges in a Miami courtroom in 1979. ( Photo by Donn Dughi / Florida Memory Project. )

Exploring the

Psychopathic Brain

with Dean Haycock, neurobiologist, former instructor at Brown University, and author of Murderous Minds, Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic Brain. 

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Armed militia members gather at Michigan 's statehouse to protest against Covid-19 related health restrictions.

Paramilitaries as Constitutional Threats

with Mary McCord, visiting professor and legal director at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. 

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Both nature and nurture shape relations between the sexes, but exactly how and how much they do so might surprise you.

 

Sex, Misogyny and Evolution

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University's College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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An 1879 photo of Frederick Douglass by

George Kendall Warren.

(National Archives and Records Administration)

The Fire of

Frederick Douglass

a dramatic look at the life of the greatest American of the 19th century, with Rick Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland.  

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Game theory can help you make the right move in checkers and in real life.

 

Survival Through Math

an introduction to game theory as a tool for navigating crises, with Anna Weltman, former graduate instructor at the University of California at Berkeley and author of Supermath: The Power of Mathematics For Good and Evil. 

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Minnesota State Police troopers patrol in response to unrest following the killing of George Floyd. (Photo by Tony Webster.)

 

On Defunding the Police

an introduction to the concepts of police defunding and police abolition, with Alex S. Vitale, professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and author of The End of Policing. 

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A protest following the election of Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote while winning the electoral college. (Image from Democracy Now.)

Crash Course on the Electoral College

with Denver Brunsman, associate professor of history at George Washington University. 

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A rare Saint Francis Satyr butterfly, found almost entirely on a military base in North Carolina. (Photo by USGS Bee Inventory and

Monitoring Lab )

 

Rescuing Rare Butterflies

with Nick Haddad, who researches butterflies as a professor of integrative biology at Michigan State University and senior terrestrial ecologist at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and is the author of The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature. 


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An image from a World War I propaganda

poster that encouraged rationing.

A History of

American Dining

or what we can learn from our nation’s past in a time of culinary crisis, with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University. 

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A McDonald's on a city street.

(Photo by Jeramey Jannene.)

 

Race and Fast Food

with Marcia Chatelain, professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University and author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America. 


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A photo of unidentified origin commonly circulated to illustrate the creepy online folktale “The Expressionless.”

Slenderman and Other Internet Folklore

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at The Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

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The shelves of a supermarket in Franklin Farm, Virginia, after it was cleared out by panic-buying in March. (Photo by Famartin / Wikipedia Commons. Alteration with framing shadows by Profs and Pints.)

 

Meltdown on Aisle Twenty

look at panic-buying, hostility to outsiders, and other evolved responses to crises, with Stephanie D. Preston, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. 


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The Me Too movement has brought more attention to sexual assault, but the criminal justice system remains a fraught place for victims seeking redress. Can restorative justice be a better option for them? (Photo by surdumihail / Pixabay)

Restorative Justice and Sexual Assault

with Lara Bazelon, law professor and director of the criminal and juvenile justice and racial justice clinics at the University of San Francisco and author of Rectify: The Power of Restorative Justice After Wrongful Conviction. 

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A Bannik, or Russian bathhouse spirit, as drawn by Ivan Bilibin in 1934. (Wikimedia Commons)

 

Spirits Around the Place

a look at Russian beliefs in supernatural creatures and their homes, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University. 


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John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon following their nationally televised debate on Sept. 26, 1960. (Associated Press photo.)

 

The Debate of the Century

a look at how Kennedy vs. Nixon changed American presidential politics, with Allen Pietrobon, assistant professor of Global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and former professorial lecturer of history at American University. 


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Photo is a signal that what we have been doing is failing to satisfy our need to feel engaged. (Photo by Marco Verch.)

 

Overcoming Boredom

with James Danckert, who researches boredom as a professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo. 


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A full moon over the Chinese city of Xi'an. Can you see the moon goddess or the jade rabbit? (Photo by Dave Morrow).

 

A Feast of China's Lore

an autumnal exploration of the Chinese tradition’s myths, folktales, and Moon Festival, with Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and frequent lecturer on Chinese culture. 


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The forces of good and evil clash on the side of Notre Dame cathedral.

Humans—Naturally

Good, or Bad?

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University’s College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 


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The official portrait of the U.S. Supreme Court going into its session that began October 5, 2020 was taken before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, shown seated in the front row, second from left. (Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.)

Supreme Court at a Crossroads

with David Fontana, professor of law at the George Washington University, scholar of the Supreme Court, and frequent writer on constitutional issues. 


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A 1944 picture of members of the Maquis, a subset of the French Resistance that included socialists, communists, and anarchists. (Photo by Donald I. Grant, Department of National Defence, Canada / Collection of Library and Archives Canada )

 

The Origins of Antifa

with Mark Bray, lecturer in history at Rutgers University, political organizer, and author of Antifa and Translating Anarchy. 


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The flag of the African Union.

Outsiders Wreak

Havoc in Africa

with Elizabeth Schmidt, professor of history at Loyola University Maryland and author of Foreign Intervention in Africa after the Cold War. 


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Image from the original Warner Brothers Studios poster promoting the film The Exorcist.

 

The Exorcist's Power

with David Wilt, professorial lecturer in film studies at George Washington University. 

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“Wheat Field,” a 1919 painting of the Battle of Belleau Wood by Frank Schoonover.

 

The Battle of Belleau Wood

a discussion of courage and sacrifice in the summer of 1918, with Edward Lengel, chief historian of the National Medal of Honor Museum, former professor at the University of Virginia, and author of several books on World War I military history.


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A 1720 political cartoon from an unknown artist depicting Scottish speculator John Law, who was said to have the ability to sell people the wind. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Centuries of

Financial Scandal

with Trevor Jackson, assistant professor of economic history at George Washington University. 


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Young African American people gathered at a Black Lives Matter protest. (Photo by Orna Wachman / Pixabay )

 

Black Votes as Swing Votes

an assumption-shattering look at the political behavior of young African Americans, with David Barker, professor of government and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. 

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George Washington and his cabinet: Secretary of War Henry Knox, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Lithograph by Currier and Ives. (Library of Congress.)

 

Inside Presidents' Cabinets

a look at the role of advising the highest office, with Lindsay Chervinsky, scholar of the presidency and professorial lecturer at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. 


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A Japanese Yuki-onna, or snow spirit, as depicted in the 1737 Hyakkai-Zukan, or book of demons, by Sawaki Suushi.

 

Japanese Ghost Stories

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 


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A mural painted on the walls of a Buddhist monastery in Thailand depicts a monk meditating on a corpse. (Photo by Justin McDaniel.)

 

Horror in the East

a look at truly frightening Buddhist beliefs and rituals, with Justin McDaniel, professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, founder of the Penn Ghost Project, and former Buddhist monk. 

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A traditional Irish jack-o-lantern carved from a turnip on display in the National Museum of Ireland.

A Summoning of

Halloweens Past

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 


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The devil baptizes a sorcerer as others await their turn in this engraving from the 1626 Compendium Maleficarum, by Francesco Maria Guazzo of Italy.

 

The War on Warlocks

a look at the hunt for male witches in early modern France, with Thomas Rushford, professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College and scholar of witch trials in France and England. 


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A Dune illustration depicting the Bene Gesserit Sisters' training academy.

 

Faith on Dune

a look at religion in science fiction and fantasy, with Peter Herman, lecturer of theology and religious studies at Marymount University and scholar of religious and social themes in those genres. 


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Vasilisa the Beautiful at the hut of Baba Yaga. (Illustration by Ivan Bilibin.)

 

Tales from Netherworlds

an evening with Baba Yaga and other dark denizens of the imagination, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University. 

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Edgar Allan Poe, as depicted in a drawing made from a daguerreotype by Mathew Brady. (National Archives at College Park.)

 

Poe's Mastery of Horror

with Hal Poe, professor of faith and culture at Union University, former president of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum of Richmond, and author of Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to his Tell-Tale Stories and Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe. 

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An image from the 1922 German expressionist film Nosferatu, which was directed by F. W. Murnau and starred Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok.

 

When Vampires Arose

with Bruce McClelland, former instructor at the University of Virginia and author of Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead. 

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A 1518 painting by Johann Jakob Wick of three witches being burned in Baden, Switzerland.

What Sparked

Witch Burnings

a look at the origins of Europe and North America's witch trials, with Richard Kieckhefer, professor of religious studies and history at Northwestern University and author of European Witch Trials and Magic in the Middle Ages. 


protosead.jpg

An ad for Protose, one of the first meat substitutes to be made widely commercially available.

 

A History of Meat Mimicry

with Adam Shprintzen, associate professor of history at Marywood University and author of The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform. 


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A NASA illustration of the Keplar Telescope, which aids the search for extrasolar planets.

 

The Search for Alien Life

with Jason Wright, professor of astronomy and astrophysics and director of the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center at Pennsylvania State University. 


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A 19th-century illustration of Madame d'Aulnoy's fairy tale "The Blue Bird." (Artist unknown/ Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Fairy Tales of French Salons

with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 


Cover, Stilke_Hermann_Anton_Joan_of_Arc'

Joan of Arc's death at the stake, as depicted as part of an 1843 triptych by Hermann Stilke.

Gods, Evolution, Conspiracies, and Belief

a biology-based look at how humans have long made sense of their worlds, with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University’s College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 


Little_Rock_integration_protest.jpg

Opponents of school desegregation equate it with communism at a 1959 protest in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Understanding

Racial Capitalism

with Olufemi Taiwo, assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and scholar of Black political movements.

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Krampus administers rather creepy discipline in a Victorian greeting card.

Nightmares Before Christmas

a discussion of Krampus and other dark holiday lore, with William Egginton, professor of humanities and director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University. 

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Friend or foe? How can we be sure?

Dreams of Intelligent Machines

a look at the big questions posed by the emergence of artificial intelligence, with Colin Allen, professor of history and philosophy of science and adjunct in the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at the University of Pittsburgh. 

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The Icelandic troll Grýla simply loves children—for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This Icelandic statue depicts her next to the pot that she uses to cook her meals.

 

You Better Watch Out

a look at terrifying holiday folklore around the world, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

Snow-Maiden.jpg

The Snow Maiden as painted by Victor Vasnetsov

in 1899

 

Meet Russia's Snow Maiden

a discussion of the tales and traditions of Slavic winters, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University. 

Illustrated_London_News_-_Christmas_Truc

An illustration of the Christmas truce accompanying coverage of it in the January 9, 1915 edition of

The Illustrated London News.

 

The Christmas Truce of 1914

an examination of an extraordinary silent night in World War I, with Simon Jones, a historian and battlefield guide who has written books about the war and taught courses on it at Liverpool and Leicester Universities. 

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Robert Frost in 1941. (Photo by Fred Palumbo of the World Telegram / Library of Congress collection.)

 

Robert Frost's Winter

with Michael Manson, former lecturer on literature at American University and past president of the Robert Frost Society. 

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A Kay Nielsen illustration from a 1922 edition of the Norwegian fairy tale collection East of the Sun and West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North.

 

Wintery Fairy Tales

an evening among ghosts, snow queens, and friendly bears, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

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Charles Dickens in 1842, a year before the publication of A Christmas Carol. (Portrait by Francis Alexander.)

How Dickens “Invented” Christmas

with John Pfordresher, a professor of English at Georgetown University who has taught courses on Charles Dickens for 50 years. 

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The fictional character of Sherlock Holmes is honored by a statue in London.

Investigating

Sherlock Holmes

with Kris Mecholsky, English instructor, crime narrative scholar, and associate director of research advancement at Louisiana State University. 

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Children at a sledding party.

(Photo by Steven Depolo / Creative Commons )

Children, Play, and the Pandemic

a look at child friendships in a time of social distancing, with Julie Wargo Aikins, child clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University. 

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American soldiers return Tet Offensive gunfire.

(Photo by Ken Pollard, 221st Signal Co.)

The Tet Offensive

(A 360-Degree View)

with Erik Villard, military historian, former instructor at the University of Washington, and author of Staying the Course: U.S. Army Combat Operations in Vietnam, Oct. 1967 to Sept. 1968. 

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One of the biographical profiles available at Enslaved.org.

 

Encountering the Enslaved

a look behind the data at Enslaved.org, a groundbreaking effort to bring to light the lives of individuals in the transatlantic slave trade, with Daryle Williams, history professor at the University of Maryland and co-principal investigator for this open-source database project. 

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Image by Mohamed Chermiti from Pixabay

Debunking Human

Sexuality Myths

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University's College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University's Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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Disturbed naps are just one of the drawbacks that come from having humans around all day.

(Photo by Eli Duke / Creative Commons. )

 

Pets' Pandemic Problems

with Dr. Sally J. Foote, instructor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and veterinary behavior consultant. 

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The movie poster for the re-release of the original Star Wars. (20th Century Fox.)

 

Folklore Strikes Back

a look at how folklore influenced Star Wars and the fan culture that arose around it, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

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Mark Wahlberg wasn't born with what he displayed in Boogie Nights. In fact, it had been strapped onto him sometime that day. (Screen capture of Boogie Nights from New Line Cinema.)

Exposing Leading Men's Parts

a look at the changing role of male genitalia in Hollywood movies, with Peter Lehman, professor emeritus of film and media studies at Arizona State University and author of Running Scared: Masculinity and The Representation of the Male Body, Expanded Edition. 

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The Potala Palace in Lhasa serves as a symbol of the unique brand of Buddhism found in Tibet .

The History of

Tibetan Buddhism

with Justin Jacobs, associate professor of history at American University and scholar of ancient China and the Silk Road. 

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Philadelphia as depicted in a 1770 print by Balthasar Friedrich Leizelt (Library of Congress).

Colonial Philly's Organized Chaos

a look at the city's progression from mob-ruled to model for a new nation, with Jessica Chopin Roney, associate professor of history at Temple University and author of Governed by a Spirit of Opposition: The Origins of American Political Practice in Colonial Philadelphia. 

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You can get from Venezuela to some distant islands to the north just by drifting several days on a raft, but strong winds and currents rendered much closer islands to its east unreachable to those who needed to paddle.

Retracing Ancient

Caribbean Voyages

a look at how the first peoples of that region found and settled its islands, with Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon and leader of numerous archeological digs on islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific. 

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Floyd Collins, who had sought to maintain tourist attractions in life, became one in death. Here a sign directs tourists to the cave where his body was displayed. (National Park Service photo.)

 

Trapped in the Earth

a look at a failed 1925 cave rescue that transfixed and inspired America, with Alyssa Warrick, public historian and former guide at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. 

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A girl being inoculated against typhoid in 1944. (Photo by John Vachon for the United States Farm Security Administration.)

Infections, Vaccines, Evolution and Medicine

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University’s College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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“The Nights Long Moments,” by Jordan Condon (Wikimedia Commons.)

 
The Cosmic Imagination

a look at thinkers who have changed our conception of reality, with William Egginton, professor of humanities and director of the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

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An illustration of Snow White by the German artist Alexander Zick, from roughly 1900.

 

Happily Ever After?

a look at what fairy tales actually say about love, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic. 

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In the fairy tale The Robber Bridegroom, the bride-to-be is warned by a caged bird outside the bridegroom's door, “Turn back, turn back, thou bonnie bride. Nor in this house of death abide.” (Illustration by Walter Crane from the 1886 edition of Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm/ Macmillan and Company.)

Frightful

Fairy-Tale Weddings

featuring death, curses, and iron shoes, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

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"The Republican Court (Lady Washington's Reception Day)." Painting by Daniel Huntington

(Brooklyn Museum).

Founding Fathers in the “Friend Zone”

with Cassandra Good, assistant professor of history at Marymount University and author of Founding Friendships: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early American Republic. 

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“Bedroom in Arles,” by Vincent van Gogh (

Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam).

 

What We Did in Bed

a look at the little-known history of the place where we spend a third of our lives, with archaeologist Brian Fagan, distinguished emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of What We Did in Bed: A Horizontal History. 

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Cupid as rendered by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi in 1510.

 

The Love Lecture

with Laura Papish, associate professor of philosophy at George Washington University and teacher of a seminar on the philosophy of love, sex, and friendship. 

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From an 1803 portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart. (Clark Art Institute Collection.)

George Washington's Legacies

with Denver Brunsman, associate professor of history at George Washington University, lecturer at Mount Vernon, and co-author of Leading Change: George Washington and Establishing the Presidency. 

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A tourist atop an ancient pyramid in Mexico takes a selfie. (Photo by Daniel Case / Wikimedia Commons).

Our Social Media Posts, Ourselves

a provocative look at how our identities get packaged and consumed online, by Jenna Drenten, associate professor of marketing at Loyola University Chicago and scholar of digital consumer culture. 

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Mackerel, bluefish, porgy, whiting and other fish for sale at a store in northern Virginia. (Photo by Jarek Tuszyński / Creative Commons)

 

Buying Sustainable Seafood

or how to shop for fish like a marine biologist, with David Shiffman, an adjunct professor at Arizona State University's Washington, D.C. Center and fisheries biologist at the Marine Stewardship Council.

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Photo by Raphaël Labbé / Creative Commons

 

Our Imaginary Friends

a look at Tulpamancers who create other beings

in their minds, with Samuel Veissière, assistant professor, cognitive anthropologist, and co-director

of the Culture, Mind, and Brain Program at

McGill University. 

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“The first quadrille at Almack's,” an illustration from the 1892 book The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow 1810-1860. (From the British Library collection.)

Romance in Bridgerton's Regency Era

with Julie Taddeo, professor of British history at the University of Maryland at College Park. 

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Clockwise from upper left: C.S. Lewis photographed by Arthur Strong; map of Narnia (artist unknown); Barbara Remington's map of Middle-Earth; J.R.R. Tolkien (photographer unknown); flag of Middle Earth’s Rohan (artist: Pbroks13), first editions of the authors’ works; a flag of Narnia (artist: Groteddy). 

Where Middle Earth

Met Narnia

a look at how J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis together invented the genre of modern fantasy, with Hal Poe, professor of faith and culture at Union University and author of a three-volume C.S. Lewis biography. 

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Chess problem #35 from King Alfonso X’s of Castile’s thirteenth-century Libro de los juegos. Folio 75 verso.

 

How Chess Ruled the World

a look at the social and cultural history of a powerful board game, with Jenny Adams, associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts and author of Power Play: The Literature and Politics of Chess in the Late Middle Ages. 

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Part of "A-maze-ing Laughter," a bronze sculpture by Yue Minjun located in a park in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Cropped and edited image from a photo taken by Cameron Norton / Wikimedia Commons.

 

Looking at Laughter

a serious, scholarly examination of how our brains produce and process what folks find funny, with

Janet Gibson, professor of psychology at Grinnell College and author of An Introduction to the Psychology of Humor. 

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A granddaughter reads to her grandmother in this image taken from a mezzotint of a painting by Arthur John Elsley. (Wellcome Trust / Wkimedia Commons.)

Can We Thwart

Aging and Death?

with Rui Diogo, associate professor of anatomy at Howard University’s College of Medicine and resource faculty member at George Washington University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology. 

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Disney Land's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Fairy Tales as

American Scripture

a look at how such stories guide our nation, with

Kate Koppy, author of Fairy Tales in Contemporary American Culture: How We Hate to Love Them. 

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A chromolithograph reproduction of “Boston Massacre, March 5th, 1770,” an 1855 painting by William L. Champney. (Boston Athenaeum).

The Boston Massacre's Backstory

a look at the hidden history of an event that

you probably heard mythologized in school, with Richard Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland at College Park. 

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Australian engineers at a tunnel entrance on the Western Front in 1918. (Australian War Memorial.)

 

World War Beneath the Earth

a deep exploration of World War I’s subterranean conflicts, with Simon Jones, historian and battlefield guide, lecturer at Liverpool and Leicester Universities, and author of Underground Warfare, 1914–1918. 

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The crew of the Parma uses a capstan to weigh anchor. (Photo by Alan Villiers / National Maritime Museum of Britain / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

The Tale of Sea Shanties

with Jessica M. Floyd, scholar of sea shanties during the Great Age of Sail. 

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Irish Patriot Party leader Henry Gratten, on the right and in red jacket, addresses the Irish House of Commons in this 1780 painting by Francis Wheatley.

Ireland and the

American Revolution

with Sam Fisher, assistant professor of history at the Catholic University of America. 

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A 1764 lithograph by William Burgis depicts New York's Ft. George in the decade prior to its destruction in the 1741 uprising.

The St. Patrick's Day

Revolt of 1741

with John Donoghue, associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago and scholar of Irish American history.


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The Irish village of Doolin. (Photo by Suzanne Mischyshyn / Creative Commons.)

 

Intro to Irish Gaelic

with Jennifer O’Riordan, native of Cork and former assistant director of Irish Studies and Irish language instructor at Catholic University. 


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Woman have come to be associated with salads (Wix stock photo on the left), while men have come to be associated with steak (shot on right by Glencliff Media / Wikimedia Commons.) 

Gender Stereotypes on the Menu

a look at how Americans came to see foods as either feminine or masculine, with Paul Freedman, professor of history at Yale University and author of American Cuisine: And How It Got This Way. 


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A computer animation of a gamma-ray burst destroying a star. (Photo by NASA / SkyWorks Digital.)

 

Cosmic Blasts

a look at extreme events in our universe, with Alexander J. van der Horst, associate professor of astrophysics at George Washington University.


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"The Triumph of Death," painted by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in about 1562. (Museo del Prado.)

 

How Diseases Drive History

with Andrew Latham, professor of political

science at Macalester College and author of Theorizing Medieval Geopolitics: War and World Order in the Age of the Crusades. 


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“Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard, 1718.” Painted by Jean Leon G. Ferris in 1920.

When Pirates Prowled the Chesapeake

with Jamie L.H. Goodall, professor at history at Southern New Hampshire University, scholar of piracy in and around the Atlantic, and author of Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay. 

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Falling stars as seen from a balloon. From the 1871 book Travels in the Air, by James Glaisher. (NOAA Library Collection / Wikimedia Commons.)

Adventures of

Victorian Aeronauts

with Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history and science in society at Wesleyan University and scholar of early balloon voyages.


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A machine at the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, Calif. (Photo by Michael Moore/Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Pinball's Wizardry

a look at the history of a beloved American pastime, with Adam Ruben, science comedian, adjunct instructor at Johns Hopkins University, and author of Pinball Wizards: Jackpots, Drains, and the Cult of the Silver Ball. 

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An image created to convey the inclusivity of the LGBTQ community. (Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Sex on the Brain

a look at the science of sex differences, gender, and sexual orientation, with Bradley M. Cooke, adjunct associate professor of neuroscience and psychology at Georgia State University.                     


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A print of magicians from the 1820 book The World in Miniature...Hindoostan, by Frederic Shoberl. Print by book publisher R. Ackerman.

 

A History of India's Magic

a look at the ancient origins and remarkable evolution of a venerable performance art, with Shreeyash Palshikar, an assistant professor of history at Albright College who teaches a class on magic in world history. 


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An image from “Proserpine” (Persephone) painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1882. (Birmingham Museums Trust / Wikimedia Commons.)

Goddess of Spring and the Underworld

an introduction to the Greek goddess Persephone

in her many incarnations, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

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Sandhill cranes fly over New Mexico. (Photo by John Fowler / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Spring's Bird Migrations

a guide to spotting our winged arrivals from the south and understanding how they got here, with Peter English, scholar of avian biology and behavior, bird guide, and assistant professor of biology at the University of Texas at Austin.


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Members of the British Royal Family assemble on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in 2012.

 

Royal Messes

a look at the British royal family’s long history of scandals, with Julie Taddeo, professor of British history at the University of Maryland at College Park.


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“The 10th Whitechapel Crime.” An 1881 Fortuné Méaulle's engraving based on a drawing by Henri Meyer in Le Journal illustré depicting one of the murders later attributed to Jack the Ripper.

 

True Crime's Story

a look at the sordid past of a widely followed genre, with Kris Mecholsky, scholar of crime fiction and film and administrator and English instructor at Louisiana State University.


General_History_of_the_Pyrates_-_Ann_Bon

Anne Bonny and Mary Read as depicted in a 1724 engraving by Benjamin Cole. (Wikimedia Commons.)

Pirate Queens of the Caribbean

with Rebecca Simon, professor of history at Santa Monica College and author of Why We Love Pirates: The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He Changed Piracy Forever.


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A wall in Malaysia bears pro-democracy graffiti.

 

Defending Democracies

on what can be done about the precarious state of elected governments in the U.S. and abroad, with Professors Victor Menaldo and James Long of the University of Washington, co-founders of the Political Economy Forum.


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This statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's dog, Fala, can be seen at the memorial to the past president sculpted by Neil Estern and located in Washington DC's Potomac Park.

 

Pets of the Presidents

with Edward Lengel, former chief historian of the White House Historical Association, former professor at the University of Virginia, and author of books such as General George Washington: A Military Life.


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Image by Deepak Pal (www.iqlect.com / Creative Commons)

Turning AI into

Human Intelligence

on the quest to develop artificial intelligence that can explain its thought processes to teach us, with Forest Agostinelli, assistant professor in the AI Institute at the University of South Carolina.


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The covers of issue 2 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, published by Archie Comics, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Play With Fire, published by Titan Comics. (Background photo by Johanna Carvajal / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

Modern Gothic Heroines

a look at the literary roots of Buffy, Sabrina, and other popular hell-raising women, with Miranda Wojciechowski, associate instructor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington.


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Top left: Hillary Swank as a Mars traveler in Netflix’s Away. Bottom left: A science advisor to Minority Report demonstrates a real-life version of the technology used in it. (Photo: Steve Jurvetson /Wikimedia Commons.) Right: A Léon Benett illustration of a helicopter-like device in Jules Verne’s 1886 novel Robur the Conqueror.

 

Our Lives in a Sci-Fi World

an in-depth look at how the literary imagination drives scientific discovery and our response to it, with Anastasia Klimchynskaya, instructor at the University of Chicago and postdoctoral fellow at its Stevanovich Institute on the Formation of Knowledge.


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The 2014 Electrobeach EDM festival in Port-Barcarès, France. (Photo by Alexcorp66 / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

The Social History of EDM

a charting of electronic dance music’s journey from deviant subculture to culture industry, with Chris Conner, visiting assistant professor of sociology at the University of Missouri and author of the forthcoming book Electric Empires: A Social History of Electronic Dance Music.


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John, the Dragon, and the Beast of the Sea are portrayed in a medieval tapestry woven in Paris between 1377 and 1382. (Musée de la Tapisserie, Angers. France / Wikimedia Commons.)

 

The Mark of the Beast

as well as other riddles from the Book of Revelation, explained in historical context by Eric Vanden Eykel, associate professor of religion at Ferrum College and scholar of early Christian literature and apocryphal texts.


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Left to right: The theatrical release poster for the film Fargo (Gramercy Pictures). To Kill a Mockingbird as released on DVD by Universal Legacy Series. An early edition of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

Fictional Figures on the Couch

an exploration of psychology through literature and film, with Dean A. Haycock, neurobiologist, former instructor at Brown University, and author of Characters on the Couch.


Charlottesville_'Unite_the_Right'_Rally_

The 2017 “Unite the Right” rally brought large numbers of white supremacists out onto Charlottesville’s streets. (Photo by Anthony Crider / Wikimedia Commons.)

The White Supremacists Among Us

an in-depth look at their emergence and mobilization, with Robert Futrell, professor of sociology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, researcher of political extremism and the far right, and co-author of American Swastika: Inside the U.S. White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate.


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Symposium guests as depicted on a fifth-century B.C. Greek drinking cup.

Ancient Greek
Social Networks

with Diane Harris Cline, associate professor of classics and history at George Washington University and author of National Geographic’s The Greeks:

An Illustrated History.


Lake_Michigan_waves_at_Michigan_City_lig

Lake Michigan waves batter the Michigan City lighthouse after 2012's superstorm Sandy. (Photo by S. Ashley, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory / Wikimedia Commons.

How We Tamed
the Great Lakes

with Theodore Karamanski, professor of history and public history at Loyola University Chicago and author of several histories of the lakes’ exploration, navigation, commerce, and infrastructure.


Henry_Morgan_in_colour.jpg

From an illustration in the 1684 book The Buccaneers of America: A True Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coasts of the West Indies by the Buccaneers of Jamaica and Tortuga.

Portrait of the Pirate Captain Morgan

a look at the real figure’s legendary life and troubling legacy, with John Donoghue, an associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago who researches colonial piracy and teaches a class on the subject.


minotaur-shaded.jpg

Image of the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, taken from an engraving of a 16th-century gem in the Medici Collection in the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. (Wikimedia Commons.)


Labyrinth Lore

a mapping of tales of loss and finding, with Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman, former instructors at Ohio State University and co-founders of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic.

Briullov,_Karl_-_A_Dream_of_a_Girl_Befor

A Dream of a Girl Before a Sunrise, painted by Karl Bryullov around 1830. (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts / Wikimedia Commons.)


What Dreams Are Made Of

a look at the new science of sleep and dreams, with Antonio Zadra, professor of psychology at the Université de Montréal, researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, and co-author of When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep.

Undergroundrailroadsmall2.jpg

A promotional poster for Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad overlaid on a map of  Underground Railroad routes compiled from

Wlliam H. Siebert’s 1898 book The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom.