January 09, 2015

A Coronation to Remember

By Laurence Bergreen

In Episodes 6 and 7 of Marco Polo, the women of the Mongol and Song empires take center stage.

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January 07, 2015

Assassinations, Attempted and Achieved

By Laurence Bergreen

Episodes four and five of Marco Polo are filled with intrigue—but what of the achievements of the real Kublai Khan?

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December 31, 2014

The Intentional Deception

By Anton Chekhov

In this short story, everyone at a New Year’s party does their part to make the old year stretch out a little longer.

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December 28, 2014

Living My Best 1848 Life

By Sarah Lohman

Every summer, I spent more waking hours of my life in the nineteenth century than I did in the modern day.

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December 23, 2014

A Brief History of Bad Santa

By Miles Klee

Once a symbol of all that was cheerful and good, the many faces of Santa have not always shared his loving spirit.

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December 17, 2014

Sex, Swordfights, and Secrets

By Laurence Bergreen

In episodes two and three, Marco Polo takes more than a few historical liberties.

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December 15, 2014

Keeping Up with the Khans

By Laurence Bergreen

Netflix’s Marco Polo chronicles the adventures of the Renaissance traveler. But does the TV epic do its historical figures justice?

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December 10, 2014

More Noble Exercise

By Nathan Schneider

Don’t blame the Protestant work ethic on the Protestants. Jonathan Edwards, for one, just wanted some time off.

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December 08, 2014

The Wee Hours

By Bess Lovejoy

For centuries, a night’s sleep was interrupted by a brief waking period: a time to think, catch up on the mending, have sex, or get into trouble.

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