The government and some producers are pushing to industrialize the sugar cane-based spirit to boost its popularity around the world, while small farmers fear losing their livelihoods.
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Articles on Spirits
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Shinto and Buddhist ideas about interconnectedness have deeply influenced Japan, shaping centuries-old rituals and stories whose impact continues today.
Ouija boards have been around for more than a hundred years.
A folklorist explains how Halloween continues an ancient Celtic tradition of the celebration of the dead.
Research has been inconclusive on the degree to which drinking alcohol leads to the growth of harmful fat. But a new study suggests that beer and spirits are far bigger culprits than wine.
The polarizing dessert that people love to hate became a Christmas mainstay thanks, in part, to the U.S. Postal Service.
Today viewers may be preoccupied by the methods used by spirit photographers, but spirit photographs had a notable impact on the bereaved who commissioned the portraits.
In the early 1970s, rumors about poisoned candy on Halloween led to mass paranoia. A historian explains why such fears emerge – and what, in reality, feeds them.
To celebrate National Vodka Day, a food historian debunks myths and highlights unknown facts about one of America’s favorite liquors.
Deep sea mining could supply valuable rare minerals to green technology, but one project in the south-west Pacific is invoking the wrath of local spirits.
An expert argues our connection with these figures is longstanding. They are embedded in our myths and help us explore deeper questions about being human.
What is it that makes us feel drunk when we drink? And why do we keep drinking if it can make us feel so terrible?
Is a shot of tequila actually good for you? What’s the deal with the worm? Who was margarita, anyway? A food historian explores some little-known aspects of the popular Mexican spirit.
A scholar, who has conducted research on the Thai caves in which 12 children were recently trapped, explains their power and appeal, including the rituals and myth surrounding these sacred sites.
Some people believe different drinks make them feel differently. But the effect alcohol has on your mood depends on factors like where you are drinking it and how you’re feeling at the time.
For those wondering whether it is sinful to drink, even moderately, a scholar goes into the history of alcohol and its distillation to show how early monks and priests contributed to it.
These days they are scary, but for the ancients, ghosts could be quite useful.
When it comes to getting us to quaffing less, the bottle of plonk is a surprisingly awkward customer.
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Associate Professor of Hospitality Management, Colorado State University
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Professor of Geography and Geospatial Sciences, Kennesaw State University
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Dean of the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services, Kennesaw State University
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Professor of Geography, Kennesaw State University
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Professor of Anthropology, Kennesaw State University
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Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University
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Lecturer in International Development and Natural Resources, Lancaster University
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Senior Lecturer in Classics, Swansea University
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Associate Professor of Physiology, Edinburgh Napier University
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Professor of Religious Studies and Cinema and Media Studies, by special appointment, Hamilton College
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Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor of Patristics, Baylor University
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Visiting Scholar of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
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Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, The University of Melbourne
