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The FBI’s File on Carole Lombard
Last month I wrote about the FBI’s file on the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a post that attracted many readers. Now I’m putting up my notes on the FBI’s file on…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Highlander: A Book That Slipped between the Cracks
Nearly two years ago, I reviewed The Forgotten Highlander, a World War II POW survival narrative by Alistair Urquhart. I expected the book to receive much more attention than it did,…
Read MoreFour More Top History Blogs
A while back, I wrote about several history blogs that I enjoy reading. I promised to return with the work of more exemplary history bloggers (or in some cases teams of…
Read MoreResuscitation for the Masses: How the Invention of CPR Shifted the Line between Life and Death
In 1960, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a manuscript credited with saving more lives than any other medical article of the previous hundred years.CPR training using a life-saving mannequin…
Read MoreAn Interview with a Stage Hypnotist
Last month, I posted the first in a series of short essays adapted from an article on hypnotists and hypnotism that I wrote for (but was never published in) Harper’s magazine several years ago.…
Read MoreThe Case of the Boxing Kangaroo
I’ll be posting sparingly over the next week or two, but I wanted to let you know about a contributing gig I now have with the wonderful history blog Wonders…
Read MoreSavants in the News
Last month I wrote a post on my experiences with Max Weisberg, a mentally disabled savant who put his numerical talents to work as a sports bookmaker. I’ve long been interested in…
Read MoreDid Abraham Lincoln Have Ataxia?
Recent research suggests that the U.S. President may have suffered from this mysterious neurological disease. For nearly twenty years, people who have a kinship to Abraham Lincoln have been gathering…
Read MoreImportant Historical Finds in Attics and Basements
My research for the book I’m currently writing, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, relies on a large collection of medical records, letters, artifacts, and clippings that sat undisturbed for more than…
Read MoreAt a Convention of Hypnotists
This past weekend, The Guardian of London published an excellent article by Vaughan Bell on the resurgence of hypnotism in the treatment of a variety of behavioral disorders. The report reminded me of an article I…
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