Olivia Campbell

The way U.S. courts interpret and apply the concepts of religion and secularism is changing, according to Jenna Reinbold, associate professor of religion. And it’s having a big impact on a wide range of issues. “I have long been interested in the way that ‘religion’ and ‘secularism’ get deployed in the courtroom,” says Reinbold. Her interest was sparked by a series of cases in 2015.

Mass hysteria? Ergot poisoning? Or just despair? Here’s why what started as one woman’s dance spiraled into one of history’s strangest outbreaks. The Black Death rightfully stands top of mind among historic plagues. Yet there was an odder malady that also swept across medieval and Renaissance Europe: the dancing plague, also known as choreomania. It saw large groups of people dancing for prolonged periods in an erratic, frenzied manner, seemingly unable to control their movements or stop moving.

It was a harbinger of what was to come: the slipup I made on one of my podcast appearances to promote my second book. I realized what I’d said almost immediately after the interview finished. Cold panic shot through me as I realized I’d blurted out the wrong, and embarrassing, word by mistake. My only saving grace was that it was a recorded interview, not a live one.

There's just nothing like a true story of women overcoming the odds and doing amazing things — and never a bad time to read them. If you’ve finished Hidden Figures, Radium Girls, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and you’re hungry for more amazing stories of women in history, look no further. PEOPLE has you covered.

I chose my five favorite books on the history of women in science -- lesser-known titles from the back catalog.

As an author and journalist, my job is to be professionally curious; I’m always asking why, how, and where: Why are things the way they are? How did they get that way? And where are the women? Here are 5 books I recommend about women in science written by women authors.

In 1961, MIT meteorologist Edward Lorenz was inputting numbers into a weather prediction program. His model was based on a dozen variables, the value of one being .506127. When he ran the model again, he rounded that number to .506, then left the room to grab a coffee. When he came back, he discovered this tiny change had resulted in a dramatically different weather prediction.

Misogyny is an integral feature of our new federal government, having been fomented during the election by Trump and his second-in-command, noted critic of “childless cat ladies” and working women JD Vance.

Cute features in babies and animals are more than just amusing—they trigger powerful evolutionary responses that help our species’ survival. From Moo Deng the pygmy hippo and Pesto the penguin to Molé the baby sloth and Biscuits the seal—the internet loves to turn adorable baby animals into viral sensations. But what’s going on in our brain when we see something cute and why are we so interested in sharing those things with others on social media?

Circles made of mushrooms have inspired superstitions for centuries, but what’s really behind these cryptic rings?

The supernatural creatures said to roam these forests are intimately tied to the landscape, which is older than most of life on Earth.

The film “Oppenheimer,” which tells the story of the Manhattan Project’s development of the atomic bomb, has made quite a splash this summer, with audiences and critics alike hailing it as a riveting slice of scientific history. But it also has some viewers asking: Where are the women?

From Barbie to Grimace, it might seem like pop culture is just lazily recycling old ideas. But experts say yearning for the “good old days” is more than just a fuzzy feeling.

"I know of no restorative of heart, body, and soul more effective against hopelessness than the restoration of the Earth." -Barry Lopez

As the drummer beats his rhythm—the heels of his palms resounding against stretched animal hide—I move. I am moved. Arms reach and retract, spine twists and tilts, legs stretch and sweep across the vast, golden wood floor.