Myths are usually seen as stories from the depths of time – fun and fantastical, but no longer believed by anyone. Yet, as Philip Ball shows, we are still writing them – and still living them – today. From Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein to Batman,...

Which are the oldest museums in the world? What is a cabinet of curiosities? Who haunts Hampton Court? What is on the FBI's list of stolen art? "A Museum Miscellany" celebrates the intriguing world of galleries and museums, from national institution...

Mescaline became a popular sensation in the mid-twentieth century through Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception", after which the word "psychedelic" was coined to describe it. Its story, however, extends deep into prehistory: the earliest Andean c...

Being a man, right now, is not only tricky but curious. In fact, men seem to be in the midst of a 21st century quandary regarding identity – too hard; too soft. Too emotional; too far removed from feelings. An acerbic and extremely honest portrait o...

For American teenagers, getting a driver's license has long been a watershed moment, separating teens from their childish pasts as they accelerate toward the sweet, sweet freedom of their futures. With driver's license in hand, teens are on the road...

The public spaces and buildings of the United States are home to many thousands of timepieces – bells, time balls, and clock faces – that tower over urban streets, peek out from lobbies, and gleam in store windows. And in the streets and squares bene...

There is no female religious figure so widely known and revered as the Virgin Mary. Throughout history, Mary has inspired in a multitude of cultures around the world a deep affection, a desire to emulate her virtue, and a strong belief in the power o...

At farmers' markets, we expect to see fruit bursting with juicy sweetness and vegetables greener than a golf course. For Michele de La Pradelle these expectations are mostly the result of a show performed by merchants and sustained by our propensity...

In many ways, twentieth-century America was the land of superheroes and science fiction. From Superman and Batman to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, these pop-culture juggernauts, with their "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men", th...

From our first social bonding as infants to the funeral rites that mark our passing, music plays an important role in our lives, bringing us closer to one another. In "The Music between Us", philosopher Kathleen Marie Higgins investigates this role,...