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"Right on," Said the Pope: How the Swiss Guard became the Elite Protectors of the Vatican
At first glance, the Vatican's security service makes no sense. The Swiss Guard is an elite force from, well, Switzerland. So what the heck are these…
1 year, 11 months ago
CLASSIC: Step Aside, James Bond: The Strange Stories of Espionage Animals
It's no secret that espionage and spycraft are common tools in the murky realm of geopolitics -- but not every spy is some sort of James Bond type ch…
1 year, 11 months ago
Ottoman Harems Were Disturbing and Ridiculous, Part Two: A Real-life Game of Thrones
Behind the heavily-guarded walls of the palace, the Ottoman Empire's harem was a world all its own. In the second part of this special two-part episo…
1 year, 11 months ago
Ottoman Harems Were Disturbing and Ridiculous, Part One: Busting Myths
For centuries, westerners devoured lurid, embellished stories about the mysteries of Near Eastern culture -- and, chief amid their fascinations, the …
1 year, 11 months ago
CLASSIC: How Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Influenced Star Trek
Star Trek is one of the world's most well-known sci-fi franchises, spanning decades in film, TV, books, games and more. While it's had its fair share…
2 years ago
Popeye Changed America, Part Two: Popeye Ain't Perfect
As Popeye's popularity continued to skyrocket through the Great Depression and the second World War, his pantheon of related characters only grew. An…
2 years ago
Popeye Changed America, Part One: A Breakout Star
Nowadays Popeye the Sailor Man is a world-famous icon, represented in almost any form of media you can imagine. Yet this wasn't always the case. In p…
2 years ago
CLASSIC: What was the 'Great Stink' of London?
Every city has its drawbacks -- parking, for example, or crime, or the price of a decent pizza slice -- but in the 1800s London faced a particularly …
2 years ago
The Constitution is Amazing (and Ridiculous), Part Two: The Game of Amendments
The founders of the United States knew the Constitution wasn't perfect, and so they baked in a process for revising their original document. Today, t…
2 years ago
The Constitution is Amazing (and Ridiculous), Part One: A Troubled, Ambitious Origin Story
Something like 60% of Americans have never fully read the US Constitution. How did such a short document become one of the most important pieces of w…
2 years ago