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The traditional telling of the medieval sack of Rome might go something like this: In 1527, Charles of Bourbon led his army in an assault on Pope Clement VII’s Rome, promising his soldiers that they’d be paid in the Eternal City’s plunder. Bourbon was killed in the assault, but the city fell, and the pope was held hostage for a sizable ransom. The event marked a shift in Europe’s balance of power that had repercussions for decades to come.

Now here’s how historian Patrick Wyman chronicles...

I was 35 minutes into my conversation with Patrick Wyman when he scared the shit out of me.

I’d called Wyman — a European historian focused on the end of the Roman Empire and the world it left behind — to discuss his piece in Mother Jones on how societies hold together or fall apart. But like every conversation seems to these days,it quickly turned to plagues and pandemics. Wyman brought up the mid-1330s bubonic plague that basically cut Europe’s population in half. Here’s what, in Wyman’s telling,...

The holidays came early for Marvel fans today as The Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani shocked the Internet by revealing his new body. The comedian’s stunning transformation from regular guy to absolute heartthrob has all of social media celebrating, as it seems the Oscar-nominated writer has spent a lot of time in the gym since he was cast in Marvel’s upcoming blockbuster earlier this year.

While a few recent public appearances certainly suggested that Nanjiani was in better shape, no one had any idea that he’d look this good. In fact, the revelation of his newly ripped upper body is reminiscent of Chris Pratt’s evolution from pudgy funnyman to muscular hero across multiple franchises and folks online are letting Nanjiani know how much of a stud he is. Although, he’s making it very clear that a lot of the credit should be given to Marvel for...