Hey, have you heard of this thing called cancel culture? In the last year or so, it has seemed like every month a new public figure gets canceled. Publicly castigated, dragged through the mud, and forced out of relevance. You crossed the line, so says the mob, and we’re done listening to what you have […]

I played an amazing (and free!) mobile game a few weeks ago, and it helped keep me sane. The Frostrune is a point and click mystery game by Snow Cannon Games. I played it on mobile but it’s also available for PC. The gameplay is set in a small Norse village in the 10th century, […]

I started this week off with a visit to a class on plague. Most of my work time was spent compiling manuscripts into an appendix that no one will ever read. And I’m taking out my mounting anxiety by sewing a coat. I won’t go into too much detail about the class. It was a […]

Does it, though? *Sorry for any confusion caused by the UK links in this post. This past Saturday I attended Islamic Archaeology Day at University College London, a really exciting event of speakers discussing their recent archaeological research on medieval Islamic societies around the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean. And while I found […]

This is a recipe most easily prepared with two people, although my mom made these weekly by herself (I watched, unhelpfully). It produces a lot of dishes, but these cutlets are fantastic cold, on a sandwich, or chopped up in any dish you would want to have chicken in. So, it’s a good opportunity to […]

Do you ever get a taste in your mind? Like you just imagine a flavor that you’ve never had before and you wonder whether you can make it happen? That’s how pretty much all of my cooking projects come together. Call it my particular form of synesthesia. Read More

Question: what’s the difference between paper and fabric? For modern peoples, it’s tempting to say that the two are completely different, that paper is made of trees and fabric is made of, you know…fibers? And this is mostly true. In the modern world, we grow trees specifically for making paper, because they create a fine, […]

It might sound like I’m making a value judgment here, that traditional is better than historical. Really, I’m arguing for an awareness of context. There are some traditions that don’t exist anymore. There are some things that really are gone. But it’s not as much as you think. Participating in history, appreciating history, shouldn’t come […]

The image of the plague doctor is an icon. A creepy, anthropomorphic bird face peeking out from a black hood, wire-rimmed glasses drawn on in a caricature of an educated person. Ask anyone, and they will tell you that this haunting image is how doctors looked during the Black Death, owing to a belief that […]

Where public health means private responsibility. Read More All aspects of culture are slaves of fashion, and cooking and by extension our relationship to food is no exception. Read More The day I left the hospital, holding my child made me physically ill. Read More

‘Cause I’ve got, like … dozens. I’m about to tell you about the crappy TV I watch.  I was watching this week’s episode of Arrow (I love the CW shows) and one line really jumped out at me. One character, a mid-level guy at a shady government spy agency (that’s apparently good now?) is trying […]

Right now, my colleagues at Columbia are preparing for a strike in an attempt to pressure the university administration into bargaining with our union. Here’s why I support them and why you should too. If you already support graduate unionization, good for you! It’s because you recognize that students across the country deserve consistent health […]

This week I did my research due diligence and thought about medieval Sicily in a new context. Read More A friend recently asked me how to explain to a group of normal, reasonable people that the ancient Greeks didn’t invent science Read More

It probably won’t surprise anyone to learn that coffee sales are down as a result of the pandemic. Like makeup and gasoline, coffee is less in demand when people aren’t leaving their houses, and like the restaurant industry as a whole, coffee shops often rely on foot traffic or at the very least gathering indoors, […]