“The average American worker takes less vacation time than a medieval peasant”

“Go back 200, 300, or 400 years and you find that most people did not work very long hours at all. In addition to relaxing during long holidays, the medieval peasant took his sweet time eating…

“Old people can’t open new tabs and it’s fueling our descent into hell”

“It should go without saying that, outside of maybe the executive level, there are very few grandparents working at tech companies. Because of this, there’s rarely anyone in the room who’s truly able to…

“Are Tote Bags Really Good for the Environment?”

“Surprisingly, the authors found that in typical patterns of use and disposal, consumers seeking to minimize pollution and carbon emissions should use plastic grocery bags and then reuse those bags at least once — as trash-can liners or for…

“Lessons From Rust-Belt Cities That Kept Their Sheen”

“Can they learn anything from places like Stearns County? Its experience may offer some tips for its struggling peers: Smart industrial zoning can give an edge to local companies; higher-education institutions can serve as anchors for…

“An Ancient Sect, A Brazen Theft And The Hunt To Bring The Manuscripts Home”

“The Samaritans trace their roots to the ancient Israelites and regard themselves as the most loyal followers of the word of God as transmitted to Moses. Women are kept apart from others when…

“We Have Always Lived in the Woods: On Fairy Tales and the Monsters You Know”

“I’ve always taken issue with the idiom “life is no fairy tale,” as in: Life isn’t always a happy story. Not only is this a naive read of fairy tales themselves, it also ignores the fact that the…

"Why Photography’s B&W vs Color Debate Is No Debate At All"

"Color photography only became practical in the mid-1950s after film manufacturers had invented processes that made color pictures sufficiently easy to develop. It was another technological shift to change the medium, just as…

“Liberals, It’s Not About Being Nice”

“Next to race, issues facing transgender Americans are perhaps the next most commonly cited wedge issue splitting sanctimonious Democrats from the rest of the country. Historians will likely take great interest in the question of how the plight of a population…

“A People in Limbo, Many Living Entirely on the Water”

“the villages’ history is long and obscure, and no one knows when the first one appeared in Cambodia…

There is also the collective memory, rarely transcribed, of the floating villagers themselves, who…