climate change

Climate Change Could Erase Human History. These Archivists Are Trying to Save It

Climate change making the word hotter, more humid, and more stormy—all conditions that put sensitive paper archives at risk. This problem is forcing us to ask, which histories will we choose to remember?
Caroline Haskins
10 hours ago
Environmental Extremes

This Is What Australia's Recycling Crisis Looks Like

In 2018 China stopped accepting our recyclable waste. We've been dumping it in landfill and stashing it in warehouses ever since.
Gavin Butler
Julian Morgans
3 days ago

Witches Allegedly Stole Penises and Kept Them as Pets in the Middle Ages

According to a 15th century guide to detecting and eradicating witchcraft, witches were capable of making penises vanish—and some even kept them in nests and fed them oats.
Callie Beusman

Centuries-Old Sea Captain Diaries Are Confirming Modern Climate Science

Whalers voyaged to locations far beyond established sea lanes, which means their logbooks are filled with rare and valuable weather observations.
Becky Ferreira

The First Lesbian Porn and 10 Other Revealing Artifacts from Lesbian History

The Lesbian Herstory Archives also include a Japanese "dyketionary" and a diary documenting what it was like to be queer in 1950's small-town Ohio.
Oriana Leckert

Some Asian Governments Claim LGBTQ Culture Is a Western Invention: Here’s Why That’s Garbage

From androgynous priests in Malaysia, to cross-dressing mediums in Vietnam, Asia has a proud tradition of gender-defying ritualism stretching back thousands of years.
Sarah Ngu

The Murderous History of Qatar's Most Common Dessert

The origin story of Om Ali contains enough bloodshed to be a 'Game of Thrones' plot line.
Joy Hui Lin

This Ancient Prince's Tomb Was Found Between a Pub and a Supermarket

Scientists unveil new insights about the 6th century 'Prince of Prittlewell.'
Becky Ferreira

How ‘Bluelight’ Became a Life-Saving Encyclopedia of Drug Info

The internet's largest forum for drug discussion started life in the 90s as a message board called "MDMA Clearinghouse."
Sam Nichols

The Bizarre History of Trying to Design Cars for Women

After decades of the auto industry reducing women's needs to the color pink, a team of women designers at Volvo attempted to design a concept car that women would actually want to drive.
Katie Sehl

Three Men Vanished from a Scottish Island 120 Years Ago and People Are Still Looking

The rather unassuming white lighthouse located off Scotland’s Western Isles is home to one of the greatest mysteries of the Atlantic.
Mack Lamoureux
chain restaurants

Company That Owns Krispy Kreme Pledges $11 Million to Charity After Nazi Past Revealed

Younger members of the Reimann family, which runs JAB holdings, were "ashamed" by what a historian found in their family tree.
Jelisa Castrodale