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Thursday

Learning From The Cold War, Avoiding The Next One

For decades, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were locked in a checkmate that brought the countries to the brink of nuclear war. Now, a new multipolar landscape exists where at least nine countries have nuclear weapons and China is projected to become the world's largest economy.

Learning From The Cold War, Avoiding The Next One

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Monday

No Innocent Spice: The Secret Story Of Nutmeg, Life And Death

This copper engraving from approximately 1700 depicts the condition of the English prisoners at the hands of the Dutch. In the 1660s, Cornell University's Eric Tagliacozzo says, the conflict and competition for the spice trade came to a head. "The Dutch decapitated a number of English merchants who were also in the Spice Islands trying to profit from the trade." WikiCommons hide caption

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WikiCommons

The Salt

No Innocent Spice: The Secret Story Of Nutmeg, Life And Death

Nutmeg is a feel-good holiday spice found in cakes and cider, and even spiking our spinach, if we're lucky. But it once caused serious bloodshed and may have even been a reason the Dutch were willing to part with Manhattan back in the 1600s.

No Innocent Spice: The Secret Story Of Nutmeg, Life And Death

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Sunday

Old Newspapers, New Perspectives On The American Revolution
Courtesy of Sourcebooks

Author Interviews

Old Newspapers, New Perspectives On The American Revolution

For his new book, archivist Todd Andrlik tracked down 18th century newspapers to provide a sense of the Revolution as it actually unfolded. Andrlik says the newspapers preserve things that didn't make it into history textbooks — like the fact that the Boston Tea Party was not universally popular.

Old Newspapers, New Perspectives On The American Revolution

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A Gem Cast Off Chicago's Architectural Crown

The Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago was named one of the 10 most endangered historic places in Illinois by the nonprofit group Landmarks Illinois. Kiichiro Sato/AP hide caption

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Kiichiro Sato/AP

National

A Gem Cast Off Chicago's Architectural Crown

Chicago loves its famous architecture, but the wrecking ball may soon take down one of the most unusual buildings in town — the Prentice Women's Hospital — designed by mid-century architect Bertrand Goldberg.

A Gem Cast Off Chicago's Architectural Crown

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Thursday

We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'?

Lincoln biographer Ronald White lauds the accuracy of Daniel Day-Lewis' depiction of the 16th president. DreamWorks hide caption

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DreamWorks

Movie Interviews

We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'?

Lincoln biographer Ronald White critiques the accuracy of Stephen Spielberg's new film about the Great Emancipator. White says that while not every detail of the film is true, "the delicate balance or blend between history and dramatic art comes off quite well."

We Ask A Historian: Just How Accurate Is 'Lincoln'?

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Wednesday

How Did Thanksgiving End Up On The Fourth Thursday?

President Roosevelt celebrating Thanksgiving with polio patients at the Warm Springs Foundation for Infantile Paralysis Sufferers the Friday after the national holiday in 1938. Bettmann/Corbis/AP hide caption

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Bettmann/Corbis/AP

The Two-Way

How Did Thanksgiving End Up On The Fourth Thursday?

Why not on a Friday? And why not the last Thursday? There is an explanation. But you have to go back to things decreed by presidents Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt (FDR, that is).

A Thanksgiving Menu That Goes Back To The Roots
Renee Comet Photography, Inc./Restaurant Associates and Smithsonian Institution

A Thanksgiving Feast For The Ears And Eyes

A Thanksgiving Menu That Goes Back To The Roots

The first Thanksgiving was something of a joint venture between pilgrims and Native Americans. Chef Richard Hetzler of Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe shares a menu that celebrates the first settlers and the country's first tribes.

A Thanksgiving Menu That Goes Back To The Roots

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Tuesday

Why Americans Go Crazy For Pumpkin And Pumpkin-Flavored Stuff

Pumpkins for sale at the Mt. Rogers Pumpkin Patch in the a parking lot in Centreville, Va. Paul J. Richards/Getty hide caption

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Paul J. Richards/Getty

The Salt

Why Americans Go Crazy For Pumpkin And Pumpkin-Flavored Stuff

With pumpkin or pumpkin spices going into more products every year, we wondered, what's the deal with the pumpkin obsession? Turns out pumpkins have been a symbol of Americans' longing for simpler, rural times since we began moving to the cities in the 19th century. And marketers know it.

Monday

Oscars 2013: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

Sally Field Captures History In Role Of Mrs. Lincoln

In Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln, Sally Field plays Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd, opposite actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Field lobbied hard for the role of the emotionally tormented, complex first lady and did extensive research to capture the character.

Sally Field Captures History In Role Of Mrs. Lincoln

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Saturday

Heidi: The Little Girl Who Changed Football Forever

The 1968 film Heidi, starring Jennifer Edwards, was based on a best-selling children's book about an 8-year-old Swiss orphan. NBC/NBC via Getty Images hide caption

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NBC/NBC via Getty Images

Television

Heidi: The Little Girl Who Changed Football Forever

On Nov. 17, 1968, the New York Jets had taken a two-point lead over the Oakland Raiders with 50 seconds left on the clock. But before the final whistle blew, the stadium faded out and the Swiss Alps faded in for fans watching the game in their living rooms.

Heidi: The Little Girl Who Changed Football Forever

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Saturday

Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

Lincoln follows the president in the last few months of his life. DreamWorks hide caption

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DreamWorks

Movies

Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

Stephen Spielberg's new movie Lincoln features the authentic sounds of 1865, from Lincoln's own pocket watch to the latch on the carriage door that carried him to Ford's Theatre. Sound designer Ben Burtt talks about making the objects of Lincoln's life heard.

Hearing History In The Sounds Of 'Lincoln'

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A Grim Chronicle Of China's Great Famine

Chinese villagers welcome the arrival of tractors purchased by a farmers' cooperative in April 1958, during the Great Leap Forward campaign. The disastrous modernization program ended in China's great famine and tens of millions of deaths. Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images hide caption

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Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

Asia

A Grim Chronicle Of China's Great Famine

For 10 years, journalist Yang Jinsheng secretly collected official evidence about the terrible famine in China a half-century ago. In his chilling book Tombstone — which is banned in his homeland — Yang estimates that 36 million people died of starvation and other causes during the famine, even as grain exports continued.

A Grim Chronicle Of China's Great Famine

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Friday

The Art Of Chinese Propaganda

A 1967 poster declares, "Beloved Chairman Mao, we are loyal to you forever." Courtesy of the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center hide caption

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Courtesy of the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center

The Picture Show

The Art Of Chinese Propaganda

A treasure-trove of Mao-era propaganda posters is housed in an unmarked basement museum in Shanghai.

The Art Of Chinese Propaganda

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Brothers' Original Fairy Tales Offer Up A Grimm Menu

Improbably, a girl finds strawberries in the snow to feed her stepmother in The Three Little Men in the Woods. Arthur Rackham, Little Brother and Little Sister and other Tales by the Brothers Grimm hide caption

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Arthur Rackham, Little Brother and Little Sister and other Tales by the Brothers Grimm

The Salt

Brothers' Original Fairy Tales Offer Up A Grimm Menu

Yes, the gingerbread house is still here, and so are magic winter strawberries. But this is a world where young women and small children are delicacies, too. They're fattened for roasting, sliced up for serving, and cut up into stew.