42nd Street 1980s

Is There Really a Link between Mental Illness and Homelessness?

"Housing first” programs are helping cut homelessness in big ways. How significant is the link between mental illness and homelessness?
Riverdale Courts, Toronto

The Social Engineering of Affordable Housing

Pushes for affordable housing, and even social engineering be it Silicon Valley in 2016, or Toronto in 1912.
Love Park skaters

Skateboarders: The Shock Troops of Gentrification

In Philadelphia's Love Park, gentrification had an unlikely face.
Philando Castile shooting video

How Do I (Not) Look? Live Feed Video and Viral Black Death

When we have the choice to look, we are bound ethically and politically to what we witness and what we do with what we have seen.
Hello Kitty Bus

The Serious Subtext of Japan’s “Cute” Culture

The real reasons behind Japan's culture of kawaii, or "cute." 
Watts

Did The 1965 Watts Riots Change Anything?

Sociological data from immediately after the riots in Watts, Los Angeles, in 1965 show major disparities in attitude by race.
rio olympics

How Olympics Host Cities Hide Their Homeless

Olympic host cities have historically cleared away and marginalized their homeless in advance of the games.
Sirius

What Are the Dog Days of Summer?

The "dog days of summer" are attributed to the rise of Sirius, the Dog Star, but research into the lore suggests another dog entirely.
Black and white drawing of an ant

What We Saw Under the Microscope’s Lens

The lens, a tool technology that helps make the invisible world visible, brought a revolutionary perspective to our descriptions of nature.
Photograph: a woman applying facial cosmetic product.

What Beauty Product Trends Really Mean

American beauty products were once widely exported abroad and seen as representations of freedom and modernity.