What the Barista is Brewing Today
Grab some espresso and dive in for some brewmination
The Prohibition-Era Origins of the Modern Craft Cocktail Movement
Something needed to be done to mask the taste of bootleg alcohol that could include ingredients ranging from dead rats to wood tar. With America in the middle of a flourishing craft beer and craft spirits movement, it’s easy to forget that Prohibition was once the law of the land. One hundred years ago, on[…]
American Cycles of Prohibition: Do They Have Roots in Ancient Drinking Norms?
Ancient amphorae / Southampton University, Creative Commons It has been proposed that different drinking norms developed in northern and southern Europe during antiquity and that these patterns are still found today in the cultures overlying these areas. By Dr. Ruth C. Engs Professor Emeriti in Applied Health Science Indiana University Bloomington Abstract It has been proposed that[…]
Beer Brewing, Industrialization, and London Water Supplies Since the 16th Century
London was already a major beer producer in the sixteenth century. London was already a major beer producer in the sixteenth century. However, beginning in the eighteenth century, urbanization and industrialization meant a sharp increase in scale for brewers. Because brewers required large quantities of sweet water for manufacturing their product, this also resulted in[…]
“Come hear this ditty”: 17th-Century Drinking Songs and the Challenges of Hearing the Past
Alcohol played a central role in early modern life, occupying much of the time of both law enforcement officers and guzzling “cupp companions.” In April, 1612, the constables of Calne, Wiltshire, made a desperate plea to their superiors—the county magistrates—to help them reverse a surge in the number of alehouses in their town. Their complaint[…]
An Introduction to the Roman Drunken Satyr
Conservator William Shelley and preparator Rita Gomez of the Getty Museum oversee the sculpture’s safe arrival in the Getty Villa conservation studios. Drunken Satyr, 1st century BC–1st century AD, Roman. Bronze, 137 cm high. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 5628. Reproduced by agreement with the Ministry of Cultural Assets and Activities and Tourism. National[…]
Brewing an Ancient Graeco-Roman Beer
Beer is the most consumed beverages in the world with a long history. What does the ancient art of brewing tell us about culture and tastes? Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world; it is also the most popular drink after water and tea. In the modern world, however, little consideration is typically[…]
After a Decade of Commercial Space Travel, What’s Next?
It has been 10 years since Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the commercial space age. What hurdles must be overcome before private companies begin exploring, colonizing and mining other planets? In many industries, a decade is barely enough time to cause dramatic change unless something disruptive comes along – a new technology, business model or service[…]
Apollo 17: The Swan Song of Manned Space Exploration
Is there hope humanity will once again push beyond Earth? By Ryan P. Smith Few moments in the Cold War were as unambiguously triumphant for the United States as the landing of the Apollo 11 astronauts on the surface of the Moon in the summer of 1969. The realization of a dream first championed by John F. Kennedy,[…]
VDNKh Moscow: The Most Soviet Park in Russia
When you think of emblematic Soviet buildings, you don’t usually think of rabbits, but there they are. When you think of emblematic Soviet buildings, you don’t usually think of rabbits, but there they are, dancing and frolicking, even mating across the curved frieze of the Pavilion to Rabbit-Rearing and Fur Breeding, in a far corner[…]
Russian Nihilists and the Prehistory of Spy Fiction
In the 1880s and 90s, the age-old literary figure of the spy underwent a number of transformations that would establish its new meanings for the new century. Spy fiction has invariably proved to be an accurate barometer of political anxieties, at times even a potent fomenter of public paranoia in its own right, and it[…]
The Panama Canal’s Forgotten Casualties
The Panama Canal was a tremendous achievement by the U.S. and a display of their power and abilities. However, the health costs to the mostly Caribbean contract workers was enormous. It was the greatest infrastructure project the world had ever seen. When the 77 kilometre-long Panama Canal officially opened in 1914, after 10 years of[…]
Ancient Walls
Walls began to rise around cities throughout Mesopotamia shortly after urbanization began. Introduction The English word ‘wall’ is derived from the Latin, ‘vallus’ meaning ‘a stake’ or ‘post’ and designated the wood-stake and earth palisade which formed the outer edge of a fortification. The palisades were in use early on and are mentioned by Homer in the[…]
Off the Record: A Photographer and Gerald Ford during a Crisis
It began with an image – the first on the White House Photography Office’s 4,527th roll of film for the Ford administration. He snaps a photograph of President Gerald Ford, who leans back in a tall Cabinet Room chair, smoking a pipe and listening intently to CIA Director Colby. The image is the first on[…]
Present Tense, Future Perfect: Protest and Progress at the 1964 World’s Fair
“Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty; and precisely the same difference prevails to-day among us human creatures.” If every Negro in New York cruised over the Fairin his fan-jet plane and ran out of fuel the Worldwould really learn something about the affluent society.The stink of the fire hydrant[…]
Following a Migrant Route through Dust Bowl Camps of the 1930s
This network of FSA camps—the series of communities designed to be occupied and left on a seasonal basis—served the basic needs of their temporary residents. I still don’t know where I’ll be staying tonight. But I’ve accomplished the few tasks I needed to get done by this evening. I have a rental car that is[…]
Louis Garneray and Topographical Painting as Border Control in 19th-Century France
Exploring how topography was deployed as an instrument of French state formation in Louis Garneray’s Vues des Côtes de France. While the phrase ‘topographical images’ often calls to mind lush green landscapes, this article addresses a less familiar but very pertinent site of the topographic: ports. Specifically, Louis Garneray’s depiction of the ports of France in[…]
Female Litigants and Customary Law in Northern Burgundy, 1560-1610
Early modern women were subjected to multiple realms of authority in both the private and public spheres. By Taryn McMillanFreelance WriterMcMaster University It was the spring of 1596 and Jehanne Petit, a young widow, ventured to the local bailliage (bailiwick) court to request a greater share of her first husband’s wealth. In the sleepy village of Châtillon-sur-Seine,[…]
Patronage, Politics, and the “Rule of Law” in Early Modern France
The law’s “brooding presence” was very real to political actors in early modern France. Old Regime France, David Bell has observed, was a “judicial society” where “the experiences of the law courts were central to the way in which political action was conceptualized.”[1] Theorists distinguished the king’s “absolute power” from the rule of a tyrant by[…]
Porfirio Díaz: Tyranny of the Few in Mexico at the Turn of the 20th Century
The elite few benefited at the cost of the many until his overthrow and exile. Introduction José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (September 15, 1830 – July 2, 1915) was a Mexican-American War volunteer, French Intervention hero, and President. He ruled Mexico from 1876 to 1880, and from 1884 to 1911. After a distinguished military career, Díaz parted company[…]
A Triumvirate of Tyranny: The Three Pashas and the Armenian Genocide
Until the late ninteenth century, the Armenians were referred to as millet-i sadika (loyal nation) by the Ottomans. Introduction The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, Great Calamity or the Armenian Massacre—refers to the forced mass evacuation and related deaths of hundreds of thousands or over a million Armenians, during the government of the Young Turks from 1915 to[…]
Garden of Perfect Brightness: The Yuanmingyuan as Imperial Paradise, 1700-1860
The Kangxi emperor created a villa with gardens to the northwest of Beijing which was named the Garden of Joyful Spring. In order to create a private retreat near the Forbidden City but away from its formality, the Kangxi emperor created a villa with gardens to the northwest of Beijing which was named the Garden[…]
A History of Korean Architecture
Examining Korean architecture from the Neolithic period to the modern world. Introduction The early stages of Korean architecture date to the Neolithic period; archaeological evidence of ondol, the unique Korean floor panel heating system, was found among the remains of the burnished plain pottery culture. For the first century B.C.E., Korean architecture was influenced by the Chinese. After[…]
The History and Culture of the Kurds
History Kurdish history is deeply intertwined with the geography and the politics of the modern Kurdish regions. Historic Ethnicities of Kurdistan The contiguous Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria sit in the north central area of the Middle East. Over the millennia, numerous ethnicities have migrated, settled or natively inhabited the area including Turks, Persians, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Chechens, Azeris and others. From the beginning of[…]
The Rock-Cut Tombs of Qizqapan, Iraqi Kurdistan of the Median-Achaemenid Periods, 600-330 BCE
The story of a cave, a man, and a girl he abducted for marriage. By Dr. Osama Shukir Muhammed AminAssociate Professor of NeurologyShorsh Military General Teaching Hospital O Creator of the material world, at what distance from the holy man (should the place for the dead body be)?” Ahura Mazda replied: “Three paces from the[…]
The Hearth, the Cloister, and Beyond: Religion and the Nineteenth-Century Woman
In the nineteenth century, domesticity and maternity became the primary cultural expectation for French women. In the nineteenth century, domesticity and maternity became the primary cultural expectation for French women. The new ideals, most of which could trace their roots back to Rousseauian rhetoric, supported the gendering of education and family life and consigned women[…]
The ‘Papal Aggression’ Controversy, 1850-52
An overview of the political, religious, and cultural response to the restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England. By Dr. Miriam Elizabeth BursteinProfessor of EnglishCollege of BrockportState University of New York Abstract This article provides an overview of the political, religious, and cultural response to the restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England.[…]
Classical and Christian Conceptions of Slavery and Gender, and Their Influence on Germanic Gaul
Roman honor and shame became Christian virtue and shame. The Christian reinterpretation of the classical Roman dichotomy of “honor” and “shame” into “virtue” and “shame” in Late Antiquity did not benefit enslaved men and women equally. Enslaved men experienced a moral elevation of their suffering, which allowed them to recast their vulnerability as a strength[…]
Liars, Atheists, and Libertines: The Politics of Dishonor in the Wars of Louis XIV
Calling the French liars, atheists, and libertines, undoubtedly evoked a general sense of immorality and disrepute. In 1684, an anti-French propaganda pamphlet featured a conversation between a German and an Englishman, who were both curious to hear the latest news from a French acquaintance. Their conversation began with a parody of French politeness and refined[…]
The Yazidi: Religion, Culture, and Trauma
The future of Yazidism is unclear, but it will certainly never be the same again. Abstract The Yazidi are Kurdish speakers who have lived for centuries as farmers and cattle breeders, scattered about in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and the former Soviet Union. They shared the same fate as the Kurds when the areas were Islamized[…]
Religion in the Ancient World
There is no culture recorded in human history which has not practiced some form of religion. Introduction Religion (from the Latin Religio, meaning ‘restraint,’ or Relegere, according to Cicero, meaning ‘to repeat, to read again,’ or, most likely, Religionem, ‘to show respect for what is sacred’) is an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a[…]
