Read about the successes and setbacks Samuel F. B. Morse encountered while inventing the telegraph.
Author Archives: Anita Hacker
Nature and technology: friends or enemies?
Journalist Molly Flatt argues that there are positive relationships between nature and technology and that people can use technology to connect to nature.
How Living Off the Grid Works
People who choose to live “off the grid” often do so for environmental reasons. This article explains the steps to take to disconnect from public utiltites.
Dred Scott decision
Read about the 1857 Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sandford and why people cite it today.
Luck and Skill Untangled: The Science of Success
Science writer Samuel Arbesman and financial analyst Michael Mauboussin discuss the relationship between skill and luck and how it affects success.
The North Carolina Way
In a traditionally male-dominated field, women are leading North Carolina’s food industry.
Conflict resolution: Wars without end
Learn how researchers are using data and systems analysis to attempt to resolve intractable conflicts.
Baseball in America, Part II: Gilded Bats and Balls
In this article, sports writer Carl D. Carlucci analyzes how baseball reflected the wealth of a few and the poverty of many during the Gilded Age.
Vietnam War Protests
Read about how the movement to protest the Vietnam War grew throughout the 1960s.
A Deep-Rooted History of Activism Stirs in College Football
Threatening to boycott games has been a historic method for athletes to attempt to influence change. Listen to this radio piece to learn more.
Why Success Makes Us Risk Averse
Psychologist Ruth Blatt uses music as an example to explain how achieving success can often lead to risk aversion.
The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently Than Americans Do
Historian and author Amanda Foreman analyzes the British perspective of the War of 1812.
Immigration Fears Not New in US History: Photos
This slideshow presents a timeline of Americans’ reservations about immigrants.
Patriotism on Broadway
The timelessness and universality of Alexander Hamilton’s story is explored in this review of the popular hip-hop musical Hamilton.
Wild Things Next Door: Dangers of Exotic Pets
This news clip gives an overview of the dangers of keeping exotic animals as pets.
Joy Harjo
This biography of poet Joy Harjo includes an overview of her work.
Why We Need the Wild
Professor David Gessner of the University of North Carolina Wilmington reviews the nature writing in Jason Mark’s recently-published Satellites in the High Country, and he touches on some transcendental ideas in the process.
Moving Innovation in Education Forward
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan presents an initiative to foster innovation in the educational system.
The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 1: 1900-1910
The turn of the century from the 1800s to the 1900s was a time of great innovation and growth. Read about some of the influential inventions of the twentieth century’s first decade.
In Defense of Thoreau
Duke professor Jedediah Purdy makes a counter-argument to Kathryn Schulz’s “Pond Scum” essay in The New Yorker, which criticized Henry David Thoreau both as a writer and as a person.