Trending Topics
Family Photos 
Almost every secondhand shop has a box of old photos for sale. Ladies and gentlemen in their Sunday best; laborers pausing at their work; children, stiff and unnatural in a studio portrait, or candid and full of life on...
Halloween History 
For many years, the Malibu Feed Bin heralded the arrival of Halloween with a display of pumpkins for sale. This year, the corner of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway hosts only a utilitarian assortment of trailers used...
Spanish Style: Hidden History in Plain Sight 
It’s everywhere: historic hilltop mansions from the 1920s and 30s with red-tile roofs and wrought iron fixtures and entire housing tracts from the eighties and nineties that echo those elements in mass production. Real Estate offers are replete with...
Migrating Insects 
Fly, white butterflies, out to sea, Frail pale wings for the winds to try, Small white wings that we scarce can see Fly. Some fly light as a laugh of glee, Some fly soft as a low long sigh:...
Books & Such

Henrietta Lacks 

Good history illuminates the past, informs the present, and inspires reflection. Case in point: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) by Rebecca Skloot. In 1988, high school science student Rebecca Skloot learned that Henrietta Lacks, a poor African...