Fifty-five decibels. That is as loud as the room got when American chess wunderkind Bobby Fischer took on the Soviet chess machine Boris Spassky on July 11, 1972 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Officials began monitoring the hall’s sound levels when Fischer...
For much of its existence, Armenia has been tossed between its larger, stronger neighbors—first Rome and Parthia, then Byzantium and the Abbasids, and later the Safavids and Ottomans. This pattern shows no signs of stopping. On September 11, 2023, ...
In 2001, the United States ushered China into the World Trade Organization, hoping to inspire the communist state to join the liberal economic order. In the decades since, China’s economy has experienced astonishing growth. In 2023, the state boast...
The first Russian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ivan Bunin, was unable to do so as a proud representative of his country. Introduced at the Nobel Banquet as “the soul of vanished Russia,” Bunin expressed his gratitude to “the hospitalit...
The first Russian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ivan Bunin, was unable to do so as a proud representative of his country. Introduced at the Nobel Banquet as “the soul of vanished Russia,” Bunin expressed his gratitude to “the hospitalit...
The first recorded instance of a political sex strike—when women actively withhold sex from men as a temporary means of political action—dates back to 411 BCE in Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata. The comedy displays an effort by Lysistrata to end ...
The first recorded instance of a political sex strike—when women actively withhold sex from men as a temporary means of political action—dates back to 411 BCE in Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata. The comedy displays an effort by Lysistrata to end ...
As cities worldwide emerge from the social and economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, urban planners have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for localized and pedestrianized urban life. In recent months, however, the concept of the ...
As cities worldwide emerge from the social and economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, urban planners have discovered a newfound enthusiasm for localized and pedestrianized urban life. In recent months, however, the concept of the ...
Luben is a satiric channel that posts videos, articles, and memes that mock Greek public life, including reality TV, news fails, embarrassing moments in sports, and—most importantly—politics. Created 10 years ago, it always had a reputation for l...
Luben is a satiric channel that posts videos, articles, and memes that mock Greek public life, including reality TV, news fails, embarrassing moments in sports, and—most importantly—politics. Created 10 years ago, it always had a reputation for l...
India, the world’s largest democracy, seems to be slowly but surely falling into a state of restricted freedom under the control of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While many Western publications have denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
India, the world’s largest democracy, seems to be slowly but surely falling into a state of restricted freedom under the control of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While many Western publications have denounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
Ask any government statistician: The B-1 Bomber won us the Cold War. Not in the way you might think. No bomber ever dropped payloads over Russia, and the victory wasn’t overnight. But by its specific characteristics—anti-radar stealth, low-altitu...
Ask any government statistician: The B-1 Bomber won us the Cold War. Not in the way you might think. No bomber ever dropped payloads over Russia, and the victory wasn’t overnight. But by its specific characteristics—anti-radar stealth, low-altitu...
Debates about fertility rates rage around the world. India is no exception. As a country where family and children are valued above nearly all else, this fact is unsurprising. But focus on family often comes at great cost for India’s women. In a na...
Debates about fertility rates rage around the world. India is no exception. As a country where family and children are valued above nearly all else, this fact is unsurprising. But focus on family often comes at great cost for India’s women. In a na...
In an anonymous statement to the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), an Egyptian woman described in painful detail her family’s reaction to her contracting HIV: They ostracized her, beat her, and withheld her inheritance. In an attem...
In an anonymous statement to the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), an Egyptian woman described in painful detail her family’s reaction to her contracting HIV: They ostracized her, beat her, and withheld her inheritance. In an attem...
On January 28, 2023, US officials first noticed a mysterious object floating over the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. The object subsequently traveled over western Canada before floating back into US airspace in northern Idaho on January 31...
On January 28, 2023, US officials first noticed a mysterious object floating over the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. The object subsequently traveled over western Canada before floating back into US airspace in northern Idaho on January 31...
If the war in Ukraine can be said to have a silver lining, it is the bringing together of a nation once sharply divided along linguistic, geographical, and class lines. Since Russia’s invasion in February, ordinary Ukrainians and oligarchs alike ha...
If the war in Ukraine can be said to have a silver lining, it is the bringing together of a nation once sharply divided along linguistic, geographical, and class lines. Since Russia’s invasion in February, ordinary Ukrainians and oligarchs alike ha...
Brazil’s Cerrado region, the most biodiverse savannah in the world, is home to the geraizeiros, a native population of mixed Afro-Indigenous and European descent. Since their arrival in western Bahia over 200 years ago, the geraizeiros have lived i...
Brazil’s Cerrado region, the most biodiverse savannah in the world, is home to the geraizeiros, a native population of mixed Afro-Indigenous and European descent. Since their arrival in western Bahia over 200 years ago, the geraizeiros have lived i...
A girl of just 15 sobbed on live television while her coach questioned why she hadn’t kept fighting. The silver medalist broke down, repeatedly insisting she would never compete again. And the gold medalist looked despondent on the podium, later de...
A girl of just 15 sobbed on live television while her coach questioned why she hadn’t kept fighting. The silver medalist broke down, repeatedly insisting she would never compete again. And the gold medalist looked despondent on the podium, later de...