New research contests the myth that it was Christianity’s opposition to public nudity that led to the decline in large-scale bathing in the late Roman Empire.
History
Posted inHistory
Blowback Explores the Messy History of US Interventionism
The well-researched podcast has done deep dives into US attempts at regime change in Iraq and Cuba, with its new season tackling the Korean War.
Posted inArt
Who was Cleopatra Really?
Cleopatra has been embraced, rejected, and redefined by so many different people, and the most recent depiction arrives in an upcoming biopic.
Posted inHistory
Ancient Rome and the Myth of the Black Avenger
Long before Black Panther, early modern Europeans embraced a different kind of Black avenger, one largely constructed by White abolitionists.
Posted inOpinion
What Frank Lloyd Wright Can Teach Us About Comfort in the Office
Over a century after Wright designed a workplace that borrowed features from the home, designers are at it again, but who does a homey office really serve?
Posted inHistory
Why the Mbari Houses in Nigeria Became Extinct
Although the tradition of Mbari houses can never be revived, their rich history and broader influence on modernism in Africa is profound.
Posted inHistory
The Photographers Who Captured Russia on the Eve of Its Revolution
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky and Maxim Dmitriev documented drastically different facets of Russia in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Posted inHistory
What Can Shackled and Beheaded Skeletons Reveal About Roman Servitude?
The mere mention of slavery continues to grab attention, even if the evidence is inconclusive.
Posted inHistory
Harry Houdini and the Great Copyright Escape
Houdini knew that owning a patent for an illusion did little to stop imitators from stealing his thunder — so he employed a bit of legal sleight of hand.
Posted inArt
Fascinating Illustrations of 18th-century Inoculations by the Inventor of the Smallpox Vaccine
Both Edward Jenner’s inoculation methods and the illustrations he made of those he treated were groundbreaking.
Posted inArt
How a Map Fueled Perceptions of Asians as an Exoticized “Other”
“Peoples of the Pacific” is one of six murals that was displayed at the influential “Pageant of the Pacific” Golden Gate International Exposition.
Posted inArt
Why Do AI-generated Portraits Fail at Realism?
Why do these portraits almost always fall short of being lively or authentic?
