The poignant images, at once banal and intimate, in the Lynch Family Photographs Collection contain mysteries perhaps only the public can solve.

Nationalist rhetoric has surged to the center of US politics, but what do Americans actually mean when they say “nationalism” in the twenty-first century?

The plantation hoe, a simple, ubiquitous, and historically ignored farming tool, was specific to the Atlantic colonial project, shows historian Chris Evans.

In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, Americans faced understandable anxiety about what their society would look like—and what they should eat.

Who—or what—do Americans celebrate on the third Monday of February?

In recent decades, celebrations of Valentine’s Day have become common in Egypt. But, as anthropologist Aymon Kreil found, opinions on the holiday are mixed.

Will so-called Trump Tariffs ensure that the United States has the minerals it needs to transition to sustainable energy?

The first time a president withheld funds for something approved by Congress, it led to the Impoundment Control Act. We’ll soon find out if that law has teeth.

At the time of the Civil War, many Americans revered the nation’s Founding Fathers, and both supporters and opponents of slavery recruited them to their sides.

Well-researched stories from Atlas Obscura, Vox, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.