Though slavery was outlawed in the late 1800s, forced labor remained legal in the United States if someone was convicted of a crime. Langston Hughes wrote about such a loophole in his powerful essay examining the harshness of chain gangs.
Category Archives: The Modern World
How to colonize Venus, and why it’s a better plan than Mars
Humans currently have their eyes set on colonizing Mars in the near future. Read on to learn how Venus may be a better option.
World Without Borders
The late Garry Davis, a former bomber pilot haunted by his World War II experiences, hoped to unite all of mankind by eliminating national boundaries.
The Harlem Renaissance
Did you ever wonder what the Harlem Renaissance looked like? See for yourself by watching a video about this age of discovery for modern African-American literature, art, and music.
Did the United States put its own citizens in concentration camps during WWII?
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States government relocated many Japanese Americans to internment camps. This article gives more information about how and why this happened.
Mind-reading robots are no longer science fiction
Scientists have created a robot that can be controlled with brain waves and subtle hand gestures. This paves the way for more responsive and intuitive robots. Are robot butlers and personal care workers in our future?
The World Wide Web: The Invention That Connected The World
The World Wide Web recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Read about how the internet as we know it was developed and how it transformed the world.
IBM says to expect 5 big changes in the next 5 years
Massive changes for food and sustainability are on the horizon. Read on to catch a glimpse of what the future has in store.
Could AI help to create a meat-free world?
Reducing or eliminating meat consumption reduces our toll on Earth’s resources. Read about how people are searching for meat-free and sustainable food options.
Welcome to the Matrix: Are Humans Just a Computer Simulation?
Stories, novels, and movies allow us to consider possibilities beyond our everyday experiences. Some philosophers and nuclear physicists have begun to question whether the science-fiction movie The Matrix might have touched on a scientific reality.
Online Museum Is Preserving ‘Endangered’ Sounds for Future Generations
Technological advances force some objects to become obselete. Something widely used even ten years ago may now be a relic. An online museum aims to catalog and preserve the sounds these outdated objects make.
How worried should you be about artificial intelligence?
View the infographic to gauge the danger-level and likelihood of potential AI scenarios.
Langston Hughes’ Collection of Harlem Rent Party Advertisements
Due to high rental rates and low salaries in the 1920s through the 1950s, black tenants in Harlem threw rent parties to help pay their rent. Langston Hughes collected cards advertising such events.
New Study Says We Could Be Alone in the Universe
Are humans the only intelligent lifeforms in the universe or have aliens remained undiscovered due to limited data sets? This article presents both sides of a question that many find impossible to answer: Are we alone?
The Dawn of the Singularity
Look at the infographic to see a timeline of Ray Kurzweil’s predictions for the future of mankind and technology.
Journey to “The Crucible”
In this essay, Arthur Miller describes how he prepared to write his famous play by immersing himself in the world of the Salem witch trials.
The art of 9/11
Tom Sutcliffe, who writes about the arts and media, examines artists’ struggle to make works relating to 9/11.
‘It makes me cry:’ Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam War wounds will never heal
Author Tim O’Brien talks to a reporter from The Washington Post about how he remains deeply haunted by his time as a solider in the Vietnam War.
How smart cities can create their own poetry – tech podcast
In this podcast, the creator of an art installation in Manchester, England, discusses how she used real-time data that informed poems written by A.I. and were displayed around the city.
A Deeper Look at the Politicians Who Passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964
This article notes some of the key players in the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Roll over the hotspots in the image to find out more about each person.