The story of Palestine through the eyes of its people

Timeline: the Middle East conflict

During the First World War, Western and Arab powers negotiated the future political status of Arab lands. Since WWI, a complex history of political, economic, and social events have fueled tension and violence between Israel and Palestine. This timeline, compiled by Al Jazeera, highlights important global events defining conflict in the Middle East from 1915 to 2007.

Listen to firsthand accounts by Holocaust survivors

Hear the tragic history of the Holocaust through the words of those who were there. Multiple survivors are interviewed about their experiences. Organized by topic and birthplace, this collection of videos puts the width and breadth of the Holocaust into better perspective, and with a more personal touch as well.

'Statelessness: Citizens of Nowhere' podcast examines how statelessness erodes identity

This podcast series explores how millions live without citizenship or legal status. Through expert interviews and personal stories, it examines how history, borders, and policy can leave entire populations without citizenship and rights.

Human settlements may be older than previously thought

This narrative article follows an archaeological team as they sift through the remains of Nahal Ein Gev II, an ancient village near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Abandoned about 12,000 years ago, the site has been investigated for years and...

Exploring the White City of Tel Aviv, the capital of the Bauhaus style

In 1933, around 60,000 German Jews fled the Nazi regime for what was then Mandatory Palestine. Among them were six Bauhaus students, who accommodated the influx by working with nearly 150 other architects to design over 4,000 buildings that reflected their alma mater's modernist style. This Smarthistory article on the area, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, allows you to see several of its buildings from the comfort of your couch.

For many Jewish people, Hanukkah represents the resilience of their community

Today, many Jews interpret Hanukkah in the context of several centuries of history, including the Holocaust. Alan Avery-Peck’s essay explores how the holiday's meaning has evolved according to each generation's struggles.

Wafaa Bilal had a camera surgically implanted in the back of his head

The artist programmed the camera to capture one image per minute of his daily life. He explained that the project was meant to document his past—in a rather literal way—as it slipped away from him, in a mode that gestured at both surveillance and the radically objective nature of photos. Viewers can expect an immersive installation featuring thousands of mundane images transmitted to a website, challenging traditional photography and exploring the intersection of public and private information.

Syrians in their own words

The conflict in Syria is still alive after 10 years. Thousands of Syrians have been reported missing, hundreds of thousands reported dead, and millions have been displaced. The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) asked 1,400 Syrians...

Reexamine the Thanksgiving story through this interactive game

This interactive experience casts you as a high school journalist uncovering how the Thanksgiving narrative has become simplified. Through animations, maps, primary sources, expert interviews, and text-message riddles, the game turns historical investigation into an engaging, hands-on mystery.

An interactive look at your own life through demographics

This interactive site allows you to understand the journey of your life in numbers and dates. World Data Lab asks users to enter their date of birth, country of birth, and sex at birth. The site then provides an interactive page tailored to your...

How the underground maze below the Gaza Strip works

Hamas militants have constructed a web underneath the Gaza Strip filled with tunnels, residential areas, bunkers, and more. This article and illustrations explore the underground maze as detailed in photo and video evidence and witness accounts.

The children of parents who died on 9/11 share their stories in remembrance

Many children of 9/11 victims were too young to remember their parents who died. They’ve grown up living with the tension between having a personal connection to the day but few, if any memories. Read some of their stories.

A look inside North Korea through photographs

What does life look like inside North Korea? Get a behind-the-scenes peek through 38 photos in the Atlantic.

An alternate-history BBC homepage imagines a world where the British Empire endured

An image on Reddit envisions a 2021 BBC homepage from an uncollapsed Empire, featuring hypothetical crises in Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland, and Barbados, alongside upbeat coverage of tourism in “British Palestine”—a snapshot of how imperial news might look today.

Tracking the Isdal Woman

In 1970, a burnt body encircled by an odd assortment of items was found in a remote Norwegian valley. For nearly 50 years, the true identity of the woman escaped authorities who found she had traveled the country under many names. This podcast episode is the first in a 12-part series seeking to uncover the woman's identity and what happened in her final moments.

A full documentary on the origins of Islam narrated by Ben Kingsley

A rare feature-length treatment of Islam's founding that traces Muhammad's life from Mecca to the emergence of the religion. Narrated by the famed Gandhi-portraying actor Ben Kingsley, it brings production values to material that's often handled dryly in text—a good visual narrative option to the religion's origins.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

A 2015 Algerian novel reconsiders Camus' 'The Stranger'

Kamel Daoud's "The Meursault Investigation" exists in the same universe as Camus' famous novel, but it expands the world to imagine the story from the Arab Algerian perspective, showing the impact its main character's actions had on real people. Rather than focusing on the existential awakening of one man, it considers the longtail impact of colonialism in Algeria.

After the October 7 attacks, Palantir took out a full-page New York Times ad supporting Israel

Palantir provides its software to the Israeli Defense Forces. Alex Karp has frequently said that while his company's support for Israel may be controversial, it's critical to support Western allies.

The 2007 animated film 'Persepolis' captures the Iranian Revolution through a child's eyes

The critically acclaimed film, based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic memoir, traces Iran's transformation from the Shah's rule through the revolution and its turbulent aftermath, showing how seismic political change shapes ordinary lives.

See the challenges of navigating Alzheimer's caregiving

This 2025 PBS documentary provides a window into the experiences of three families navigating the struggles and beauty of caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer's.

Explore three of the world's most iconic deserts

Investigate the Gobi Desert in Central Asia, the Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan, and the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa as you learn about the wildlife and people that call these places home. Click through images of the Gobi Desert, which—located in...

The real stories behind America's national parks

The history and impact of national parks is complex. The authors of "Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and The National Park Idea" curated this list of nonfiction books examining American national parks from a variety of perspectives.

Olivia Nuzzi serves as a modern example of New Journalism

Writer Lily Isaacs argues that Nuzzi, a political journalist known for engaging in personal relationships with her subjects, can be viewed as an inheritor of New Journalism. Isaacs claims Nuzzi’s departure from purely objective reporting has informed her profiles, leading to intimate insights into her subjects' psychology.

See a day in the life of an Aztec midwife

This illustrated story follows Xoquauhtli, a midwife in the Aztec Empire, as she juggles childbirth duties during the festival of Teteoinnan, navigating the tension between professional responsibility and participation in the empire’s religious ceremonies, including ritual sacrifice.

'We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.'

- President Jimmy Carter (1924-2024)

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

The tragic Pulitzer Prize-winning image 'The Vulture and the Little Girl' (1993) generated controversy, raised concerns about ethics in photography, and eventually led to the photographer's death.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.