Abraham Lincoln’s Religious Transformation Mirrored Larger Revival Trends of 1860s America
Abraham Lincoln, unlike most of his political brethren, kept organized Christianity at arm’s length. He never joined a church and only sometimes attended Sunday services with his wife. But over the co...
27 Apr 202336min
Augustine Built the Medieval World With the Help of His Mother, Concubine, Empress, and 10-Year-Old Fiancé
Saint Augustine of Hippo is one of the most important figures of the Latin Middle Ages, and his writings have shaped Western thought on marriage and sexuality. However, few have considered the deeply ...
25 Apr 202351min
When Irish Vets of the American Civil War Invaded Canada in 1866
One year after the Civil War ended, a group of delusional and mostly incompetent commanders sponsored by bitterly competing groups riddled with spies, led tiny armies against the combined forces of th...
20 Apr 202350min
The Destructive Power of the Family, From Oedipus to the Godfather
Family has been an inexhaustible source of conflict for writers from the ancient to modern worlds – maybe even more inexhaustible than war. From Greek dramatists Aeschylus and Sophocles to Confucius, ...
18 Apr 202332min
A 15th-Century Islamic Scholar Has Surprisingly Contemporary Advice on Handling Pandemics
Six hundred years ago, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani —an esteemed judge, poet, and scholar in Cairo— wrote “Merits of the Plague,” a landmark work of history and religious thought that looked at accounts of c...
13 Apr 202351min
Andrew Jackson’s Victory in the Creek War Set the Stage for Southern Secession 50 Years Later
An oft-overlooked chapter in American History is the Creek War, a conflict between the Creek Indians and a young United States hungry for expansion in the early 1800s. It’s remembered as an important ...
11 Apr 202339min
After Woodrow Wilson Suffered a Stroke, His Wife Edith Secretly Served As President for a Year
The United States has yet to elect its first female president, but over a century ago, there was a woman acting as the leader of this nation—before women could even vote nationwide. Her name was Edith...
6 Apr 202356min
Victory Gardens Produced Nearly Half of America’s Fresh Produce in WW2. With Today's Supply-Chain Meltdowns, Are They Ready for a Comeback?
Victory gardens are perhaps the U.S. government’s most successful and long-lasting propaganda campaign. It began during World War One, when the War Garden Commission offered free handbooks for garden ...
4 Apr 202340min
