Jesus Christ, Ulysses S. Grant, Ernest Hemingway, and Zach Galifianakis. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photos by Getty Images, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons. Brian Petre has a ...

Is genetically engineered food dangerous? Many people seem to think it is. In the past five years, companies have submitted more than 27,000 products to the Non-GMO Project, which certifies goods that ...

Citizen Kane’s Xanadu fell into disrepair before it was ever finished. Hogwarts is now a tourist trap in Florida. Even Eloise’s quarters at the Plaza Hotel have recently been relocated to Brooklyn. Of ...

When Josephine Anderson, a formerly enslaved Floridian, was visited by a white government interviewer in the fall of 1937, she told him a ghost story. Anderson described to Jules Frost a “white man” ...

In 1996, the New Yorker published “Hating Hillary,” Henry Louis Gates’ reported piece on the widespread animosity for the then–first lady. “Like horse-racing, Hillary-hating has become one of those ...

Wikimedia Commons/White House Historical Association It’s a familiar chapter in our history, part of the triumphant narrative of westward expansion: In 1803, the United States bought a massive chunk ...

Cinematic bachelor pads from Ocean's 11, Boeing Boeing, and Down With Love. Courtesy of Warner Bros., TCM, and Twentieth Century Fox In 1941, George Jean Nathan put out an essay collection titled The ...

The Internet, we’ve been told, is the greatest library in the history of man—immediate, boundless, constantly expanding. In practice, though, many of us experience the Internet more like history’s ...

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. It’s (almost) over. The House passed ...

Though it may look cool, the Herman Miller Rollback chair of 1977 is not the perfect office chair. Office chairs are like shoes, but not as much fun. We spend much of our time in them. They emphasize ...

Here is a list of the musicians, artists, and other figures mentioned in this series, along with brief bios. Listen along to this series with Weigel’s Spotify playlist. David Weigel David Weigel is a ...

Listen to Lexicon Valley Episode No. 4: Jumpin’ Salty in the O Mike Vuolo Mike Vuolo is a radio and podcast producer and the host of Lexicon Valley. Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in ...