The most notorious surgery of the 20th century is the lobotomy, and the most infamous practicioner of this operation was the neurologist Walter Freeman (d. 1972). For a couple of decades in the mid-20th century, Freeman performed about 3,500 lobotomies on mentally ill patients, developing a technique of entering the brain through the eye socket […]
Walter Freeman and the Lobotomy Read More »
The gentle and intelligent expression you see on this man’s face runs completely counter to his actual deeds. This is Sidney Gottleib, one of the most powerful CIA officials in history, and he created a vast operation to develop mind-control experiments that involved torture and death — the casualty rates of which remain unknown.In the
Sidney Gottleib and the CIA Read More »
The product you see here turns out to have been ubiquitous and super important in recent world history: Pervitin was a methamphetamine synthesized by Germans in 1937, and the Nazis were addicted to it.In _Blitzed_, Norman Ohler reveals the macabre dependency of both Hitler and the Nazi military on drugs. The trajectory is fascinating: while
Nazis and Pervitin Read More »
Nine months ago (November 2020), archaeologists excavating a part of the Ancient Roman city of Pompeii found themselves in a rare Indiana Jones-esque situation. In a fancy villa to the north of the city, along this corridor, lay the burnt encasements of these two bodies.Figuring out what these two were doing in that fateful eruption
Pompeii and Social Hierarchy Read More »
It’s difficult to make a hero out of Edward Jenner, the doctor who developed one of the earliest types of vaccinations (for smallpox), but did so by experimenting on a nine-year old kid (James Phipps, the son of Jenner’s gardener). That kind of callousness fuels the fire of all sorts of negative stereotypes about scientists,
Barry James Marshall and His Ulcers Read More »
The Ancient Romans had a litany of holidays for all sorts of occasions. Every August 23 were the Vulcanalia, festivities honoring the Roman deity Vulcan, featured here in this palm-sized bronze relief from the 2nd or 3rd century CE.Worship of Vulcan shows the way that Romans often bifurcated their attitudes towards their deities. Vulcan was
Ancient Roman Vulcanalia Festivities Read More »
The news of climate-deniers and people who think the COVID vaccine is a government plot can be hard to hear: how are these folks coming up with such ideas? (wait — maybe don’t answer that). The truth is, history is laden with people who have gravely misunderstood cause and effect, with sometimes horrifying consequences.Take the
Cause and Effect and Child Sacrifice? Read More »
The Hocking Hills region of south-eastern Ohio is a jewel of an area — ravines, caves, and stone walls interweave throughout old-growth forest. Water is everywhere: streams, small cataracts, and waterfalls echo in many parts of the forest.The area was formed millions of years ago, when the Appalachian Mountains were eroding and the shallow seas
Hocking Hills Ohio Region Read More »
Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio has long been a place of interest for human cultures. The Blackhand sandstone formed a series of ravines there, and coupled with the abundant water supply allowed for a micro-climate atypical for Ohio. This explains the existence of trees like black birch, Canadian yew, and hemlocks which don’t normally
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Here you see a picture of a most unusual lady — this is one Ruth Belville, right outside the Greenwich Observatory in London in 1908. And Up until her 80s, she made her living selling time.Belville was of a certain moment in history, right on the cusp of the so-called “Second Industrial Revolution,” which was
Ruth Belville and Arnold Watches Read More »
Time is relative: Einstein taught us that. What scientists measure with careful instruments and observation we know intuitively — our brains carefully examine novel experiences and gloss over the ordinary, so that even our own sense of what takes longer or shorter is subjective.Ainissa Ramirez posits that the malleable nature of time can also appear
Nature of Time in Musical Culture Read More »
This is a post about two Irish songs that deal with memory. 1994 was the release date of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” and Sinead O’Connor’s “Famine,” and both emerged out of The Troubles, a period of about thirty years (late 1960s to 1998), when tension in Northern Ireland between forces that favored independence and those who
Irish Songs of Memory and Activism Read More »
Who could showcase the spirit of American trust in mid-20th-century corporate capitalism more than Walt Disney? His ambition and vision propelled him to wild success at a myriad of ventures in his lifetime. One of these great ideas failed to pan out however, and you see that portrayed here. These watercolor images are mock-ups by
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Yesterday’s post featured a successful entrepreneur (Walt Disney) whose Utopian community failed to come to fruition. Today I am looking at a Utopian community which grew into a successful corporate enterprise, almost despite itself. And here I am talking about Oneida, the New York-based silverware company (see second image for vintage silverware photo). And incongruously,
With its emphasis on individualism and a legacy of folks who have imagined what a “perfect” society ought to look like, America has been a fertile ground for numerous Utopian communities. Here you see a picture of the first rural hippie commune in 1969: this was Drop City, Colorado.Formed in 1965 when three people —
Drop City, Colorado Read More »
The original Utopia was of course the fictitious creation of Thomas More, who wrote the eponymous book. “Utopia” comes from the Greek “no place,” and indeed, Moore’s work is a satire of early 16th-century England and not a blueprint for society. It was only later that various idealists actually tried to establish their versions of
“The Consistory” Government of John Calvin Read More »
We all know (some of us might still be sad about it) that Pluto was demoted to a “dwarf-planet” status back in 2006. In other news, however (and mayhaps this could make up for Pluto’s decline), some scientists have speculated that another planet — known as Planet Nine — might be orbiting our sun.Ideas about
Witchcraft and werewolves have appeared in folklore across world history. This wooden statue by the Navajo/Diné artist Robin Willeto (born 1962) is called “Skin Walker,” and refers to evil witches thought to be able to shapeshift into coyotes. The place of coyotes in Navajo culture is unique — often sinister, they are classic trickster figures.
The Coyote, Werewolves, and Skin Walkers in Navajo Culture Read More »
This statue of Spanish scientist and theologian Michael Servetus was only erected in Geneva in 2011, which I suppose is better late than never. And the reason we can be judgy here is because it was the Genevan government that had Servetus burned at the stake for religious heresy — and that had happened about
Michael Servetus, Scientist Killed by Religious Zealots Read More »
“The Long Walk” is a Navajo experience of great devastation committed by the U.S. government, especially officials Kit Carson and General Carleton. This mural, “Return from the Long Walk,” by Navajo artist Richard Kee Yazzie, portrays the resilience and renewed shared values of the Navajo survivors of the Fort Sumner internment camp. During the period
The Navajo Long Walk Read More »
