Short Stuff: Flower Power

Conventional accounts of American history tend to focus on the people at the top—presidents, generals, CEOs, and other influential figures and their struggles, ambitions, hopes, and dreams. But what about average people? The ones who had to live with the consequences of elite decisions, and who often struggled in obscurity? In A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn aims to tell their story, providing a bottom-up view of American history focusing on Indigenous people, Black Americans, women, laborers, and activists.

Our guide outlines Zinn’s interpretation of significant events, themes, and historical trends in American history. Through our commentary, we’ll provide alternative opinions on the motivations behind and consequences of historical events. We’ll also further explain Zinn’s approach to history and provide additional context for his arguments as well as his perspective on events that happened after the book’s publication.

Did magic mushrooms contribute to making us human? In How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan traces the long and complex history of humans’ relationship with psychedelics and examines their potential use for mental health treatment today. He delves into the complex legal and cultural issues surrounding psychedelics and considers what their re-emergence might mean for our society as a whole.

Michael Pollan is an author, journalist, and professor. He is best known for his books The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, which have helped shape the public’s understanding of the modern food system. But after learning about terminal cancer patients who were given psilocybin to help ease the fear of death, Pollan threw himself into research on psychedelics—which included personal experimentation.

In this guide, we’ll situate Pollan’s research within the current field of psychedelic trials and review some of the guidelines for mitigating the dangers of psychedelic research. We’ll also probe ancient history to provide further context for humans’ complex and enduring relationship with these substances.

Conventional accounts of American history tend to focus on the people at the top—presidents, generals, CEOs, and other influential figures and their struggles, ambitions, hopes, and dreams. But what about average people? The ones who had to live with the consequences of elite decisions, and who often struggled in obscurity? In A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn aims to tell their story, providing a bottom-up view of American history focusing on Indigenous people, Black Americans, women, laborers, and activists.

Our guide outlines Zinn’s interpretation of significant events, themes, and historical trends in American history. Through our commentary, we’ll provide alternative opinions on the motivations behind and consequences of historical events. We’ll also further explain Zinn’s approach to history and provide additional context for his arguments as well as his perspective on events that happened after the book’s publication.

If you’ve ever noticed that history seems to repeat itself over the course of centuries, you may be wondering what causes that pattern—and how it may play out in the future. In The Fourth Turning, historian William Strauss and consultant Neil Howe explain how Anglo-American history follows a pattern of four 15 to 25-year periods, called Turnings, and how the behaviors of different generations define these Turnings.

In our guide, we’ll explore the authors’ theories on the Four Turnings, as well as the generational archetypes and their respective roles in the Turnings. We’ll also discuss the authors’ descriptions of the past three Turnings and their predictions for the Fourth. Finally, we’ll examine the authors’ theories in the context of history and modern society, as well as how their predictions about the Fourth Turning have played out in the years since the book’s publication in 1997.

Did magic mushrooms contribute to making us human? In How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan traces the long and complex history of humans’ relationship with psychedelics and examines their potential use for mental health treatment today. He delves into the complex legal and cultural issues surrounding psychedelics and considers what their re-emergence might mean for our society as a whole.

Michael Pollan is an author, journalist, and professor. He is best known for his books The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, which have helped shape the public’s understanding of the modern food system. But after learning about terminal cancer patients who were given psilocybin to help ease the fear of death, Pollan threw himself into research on psychedelics—which included personal experimentation.

In this guide, we’ll situate Pollan’s research within the current field of psychedelic trials and review some of the guidelines for mitigating the dangers of psychedelic research. We’ll also probe ancient history to provide further context for humans’ complex and enduring relationship with these substances.

Did magic mushrooms contribute to making us human? In How to Change Your Mind, Michael Pollan traces the long and complex history of humans’ relationship with psychedelics and examines their potential use for mental health treatment today. He delves into the complex legal and cultural issues surrounding psychedelics and considers what their re-emergence might mean for our society as a whole.

Michael Pollan is an author, journalist, and professor. He is best known for his books The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, which have helped shape the public’s understanding of the modern food system. But after learning about terminal cancer patients who were given psilocybin to help ease the fear of death, Pollan threw himself into research on psychedelics—which included personal experimentation.

In this guide, we’ll situate Pollan’s research within the current field of psychedelic trials and review some of the guidelines for mitigating the dangers of psychedelic research. We’ll also probe ancient history to provide further context for humans’ complex and enduring relationship with these substances.

Conventional accounts of American history tend to focus on the people at the top—presidents, generals, CEOs, and other influential figures and their struggles, ambitions, hopes, and dreams. But what about average people? The ones who had to live with the consequences of elite decisions, and who often struggled in obscurity? In A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn aims to tell their story, providing a bottom-up view of American history focusing on Indigenous people, Black Americans, women, laborers, and activists.

Our guide outlines Zinn’s interpretation of significant events, themes, and historical trends in American history. Through our commentary, we’ll provide alternative opinions on the motivations behind and consequences of historical events. We’ll also further explain Zinn’s approach to history and provide additional context for his arguments as well as his perspective on events that happened after the book’s publication.