culture

All nations have founding myths, but none are quite like Russia’s.

After 10,000 years of civilization, have we figured out what virtue is?

More than 1,000 years ago, Mesoamerican societies conducted one of history’s most interesting experiments in commodity money.

Japan just opened to tourists for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, echoing the island country’s isolationist policies during the feudal era.

Reading between the lines of Dorothy’s adventure to the Emerald City.

Modernism has lasted longer than any art movement since the Renaissance.

Scallop shells have accompanied pilgrims to and from Santiago de Compostela for centuries, for more than one reason

The artifacts were often made from found objects – an Ivory dish-soap bottle transformed into an earthenware figure.

How drugs, demons, and the search for immortality gave us words we use everyday.

We asked 11 experts about the future of progress for humanity.

Books that were rarely taught in 1963, when baby boomers were students, became classics when those same boomers were teachers and parents.

Elon Musk suggested remote-controlled, vibrating anal beads. Thankfully, there are more mundane explanations.

The East India Company issued stocks to minimize the risk on their unpredictable but highly lucrative voyages. The rest is history.

Advances in ancient DNA analysis gave researchers a new way to trace the movements of peoples across Eurasia.

There are nearly 100 towns named “Troy.”

“Our risk-benefit analysis showed that benefits exceeded procedural risks… by up to 200 to 1.”

To be successful at bonsai cultivation, you must acquire the perseverance and unconditional kindness normally reserved for devout monks.

The Industrial Revolution changed music forever, thanks to a combination of technological advances and clever entrepreneurs.

From Ramses II to Alexander the Great, these leaders helped shaped the world we know today.

The “first-of-its-kind” archeological find is being reburied despite the fact that researchers haven’t finished studying it.

Anything, good or bad, about Henry Ford can be contradicted — except his ambition and his work.

Only have sex with a person you love — a novel concept!

Queen Elizabeth II has died. How is this loss different from that of a loved one?

Following the advent of human space flight, NASA began naming missions after children of Zeus.

Kublai Khan wasn’t the first ruler in history to issue paper money, but his Yuan dynasty did take unprecedented action to ensure this revolutionary form of currency retained its value.

Fire-breathing dragons may represent chaos and the human impulse to conquer that threat.

Bring not a bagpipe to a man in trouble.

The Greeks were among the first to move beyond “primitive money” and establish an official currency, transforming their trade, government, and even philosophy.

From questionable shipwrecks to outright attacks, the Sentinelese clearly don’t want to be bothered.

Mesopotamian beer was not flavored with hops, and it was probably on the thick, porridgey side.