How Cup Noodles Became One of the Biggest Transpacific Business Success Stories of All Time

There was a time when eating out of Cup Noodle’s iconic packaging exuded cosmopolitanism.

How a Saxophonist Tricked the KGB by Encrypting Secrets in Music

Using a custom encryption scheme within music notation, Merryl Goldberg and three other US musicians slipped information to Soviet performers and activists known as the Phantom Orchestra.

Why is English so weirdly different from other languages? | Aeon Essays

No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language

List of mythological objects

Mythological objects encompass a variety of items found in mythology, legend, folklore, tall tale, fable, religion, spirituality, superstition, paranormal, and pseudoscience from across the world. This list is organized according to the category of object.

So You Want to Be a Bootlegger | The Saturday Evening Post

In a 1922 Post article, an ex-bootlegger offers advice for how to break into the business.

Here’s How to Make Olive Oil Like an Ancient Egyptian

An archaeologist pieces together a recipe for olive oil crafted in ancient Egypt. It’s easy for you to try at home.

‘People took so many drugs, they forgot they played on it’ – stars on Exile on Main St, the Rolling Stones’ sprawling masterpiece

Recorded during several hedonistic months in a fabulous Cote d’Azur villa, Exile on Main St is seen as the Stones’ epic, creative peak. As the classic album turns 50, stars tell us how it got their rocks off

The Untold Story of the White House’s Weirdly Hip Record Collection

Jimmy Carter’s grandson, John Chuldenko, is unlocking White House mysteries. The record collection is an archive of the nation's music taste back in the 70's.

Handy Mnemonics: The Five-Fingered Memory Machine

Before humans stored memories as zeroes and ones, we turned to digital devices of another kind — preserving knowledge on the surface of fingers and palms. Kensy Cooperrider leads us through a millennium of “hand mnemonics” and the variety of techniques practised by Buddhist…

The world's oldest dessert?

Although chickpeas and beans don't usually belong in a pudding, they are core ingredients in one of the oldest – and, some say, one of the most delicious – desserts in the world.

The Cult of Adam Tooze

How the impeccably credentialed, improbably charming economic historian supplanted the dirtbag left.

The mountain stronghold that has kept Georgia’s medieval art safe for centu

The Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography in Georgia is home to one of the world’s great collections of medieval Christian art, writes William Dunbar

How national identities are invented

A strong national identity is essential for any country's survival – and the easiest route to acquiring one is to unite behind a common enemy.

How The Inca Used Knots To Tell Stories

The Inca are most often remembered not for what they had but for what they didn’t have: the wheel, iron, a written language. This third lack has given rise to a paradox, the Inca paradox. Could it …

Wonders and warnings from the ancient world | Daisy Dunn | The Critic Magaz

This article is taken from the March 2022 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issue for just £10. If you’ve ever wondered how letters were…

Feeding the Bear: A Closer Look at Russian Army Logistics and the Fait Accompli - War on the Rocks

Editor's note: Don't miss our comprehensive guide to Russia's war against Ukraine. Russia’s military buildup along the border with Ukraine has

The Hidden Story of the North’s Victory in the Civil War

Roger Lowenstein’s “Ways and Means” offers a fresh perspective on the Civil War by explaining the importance of financing.

A Quest to Return the Banjo to Its African Roots

The Black Banjo Reclamation Project aims to put banjos into the hands of everyday people.

Heart of Mold

Why we’re obsessed with heart-shaped foods around Valentine’s Day—especially the suddenly ubiquitous heart-shaped pizza.

A very short introduction to the undeciphered Aegean writing systems

Every so often a news article will make the rounds of the internet – or, for that matter, a paper will be published in an academic journal – presenting a new ‘decipherment’ …

Finding the world’s deepest shipwreck

In 1944, the USS Johnston sank after a battle against the world's largest battleship. More than 75 years later, her wreck was finally located, 6km (3.7 miles) below the waves.

Divine Comedy - Wikipedia

The Divine Comedy is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of Western literature. The poem's…

Dun, Dun Duuun! Where did pop culture’s most dramatic sound come from?

Did the iconic three-note sequence come from Stravinsky, the Muppets or somewhere else? Our writer set out to – dun, dun duuuun! – reveal the mystery

What Lies Beneath

In 1708, the Spanish galleon San José sank in a deadly battle against English warships, taking with it billions in treasure. Centuries passed until a secretive archaeologist found the wreck, but now nations are again warring over who may claim the gold and glory.

Book Summary: The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant

This is a book summary of The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant. Read this The Lessons of History summary to review ideas and lessons.

In Praise of Bad Taste

Rax King’s ode to cringeworthy culture – Lindsay Zoladz

The forgotten medieval habit of 'two sleeps'

For millennia, people slept in two shifts – once in the evening, and once in the morning. But why? And how did the habit disappear?

Still She Rises — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

Biscuit-whisperer Erika Council honors the women who taught her to bake a perfect biscuit.

Ninety-Nine Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2021

The year's most exciting discoveries include a Viking "piggy bank," a lost Native American settlement and a secret passageway hidden behind a bookshelf

Why Arabs Lose Wars :: Middle East Quarterly

Arabic-speaking armies have been generally ineffective in the modern era. Egyptian regular forces did poorly against Yemeni irregulars in the 1960s.1 Syrians could only impose their will in Lebanon during the mid-1970s by the use of overwhelming

The Lost Lingo of New York City’s Soda Jerks

Anyone for a "glob"?

The Story of Carolina Gold, the Best Rice You've Never Tasted

Due in large part to Glenn Roberts of Anson Mills, a Georgia optometrist, and several members of what's known as the Carolina Gold Rice Foundation (yes, that exists), Carolina Gold rice is back, allowing a new generation of home cooks to experience what real Lowcountry cooking…

The Invention of Chinese | History Today

The Story of Catherine the Great

Hulu’s “The Great” offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress’ life. This is the real history behind the period comedy.

How an American in Paris won the rarest of French honors

Josephine Baker next week will become the first Black woman and first American to be honored with enshrinement in Paris' Pantheon.

The Tomb Raiders of the Upper East Side

Inside the Manhattan DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit

How Fish and Chips Migrated to Great Britain

The fried fish was introduced by Jews fleeing religious persecution.

"A Great Day In Harlem": Remembering the iconic 1958 photo of legendary musicians

58 musicians showed up for a picture that captured the giants of jazz

How 12th-century Genoese merchants invented the idea of risk | Psyche Ideas

From the docks of 12th-century Genoa to the gambling tables of today, risk is a story that we tell ourselves about the future

The Daring Diplomat Who Proved One Person Can Thwart an Empire

A whistleblower puts his life on the line to defy Soviet aggression. Over sixty years later, this forgotten story of subterfuge, smears and suspicious death has never felt more timely.

When Nazis tried to trace Aryan race myth in Tibet

Heinrich Himmler sent a team of five Germans to Tibet in 1938 to pursue the Aryan race myth.

How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War

The Singer Sewing Machine changed the way America manufactured textiles, but the invention itself was less important than the company’s innovative business

The Kingpin of Shanghai

From the depths of poverty, Du Yuesheng rose through Shanghai’s underworld to become one of the most influential, and overlooked, figures in modern China.

Why Spanish colonial officials feared the power of clothing | Psyche Ideas

Colonial society depends on a clear distinction between the rulers and the ruled. Clothing could create problems

What Did Ancient Languages Sound Like?

NICHOLAS SWIFT Can we really hear the ancients speak?

A Well-Woven Tale: The fabric of the modern world

Minik and the Meteor

Behind the American Museum of Natural History’s most venerable artifact is the shameful tale of a relentless explorer and a young boy’s torturous journey from Greenland to New York.

Africa’s ancient scripts counter European ideas of literacy | Aeon Essays

European ideas of African illiteracy are persistent, prejudiced and, as the story of Libyc script shows, entirely wrong

An Old Effort To Stop The Smallpox Virus Has Lessons For COVID-19 Today : S

In 1721, London was in the grips of a deadly smallpox epidemic. One woman learned how to stop it, but her solution sowed political division.

Meet the Appalachian Apple Hunter Who Rescued 1,000 'Lost' Varieties

Tom Brown's retirement hobby is a godsend for chefs, conservationists, and cider.