JSTOR Daily: Where News Meets Its Scholarly Match

Why the French Revolution’s “Rational” Calendar Wasn’t

What ever happened to "the most radical attempt in modern history to challenge the Western standard temporal reference framework?"

The Digital Voyage

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk has Reinvented Research

Online services like Amazon's "Mechanical Turk" have ushered in a golden age in survey research. But is it ethical for researchers to use them?

Public Intellectuals

Michelle Dean: A Sharp Look at Criticism by Women

Dean on the obstacles women face in being taken seriously as intellectuals, feminist infighting, and the importance of being an outsider.

Security State of Mind

Global Food Security: A Primer

World hunger is not caused by our inability to produce enough food. The problem arises because of the economic inequality that distorts food distribution.

Royal Weddings, Ancient Pollution, and Hippo Poop

Well-researched stories from the Washington Post, Science Magazine, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Most Recent

Science & Technology

Russian Cuckoos are Invading Alaska. Songbirds, Beware!

Songbirds may loose their entire broods to cuckoos’ parasitic tricks.

Business & Economics

Can America Get Behind Full Employment?

Full employment was a prominent goal in U.S. politics after World War II, but has faded from policy debates in recent decades.

Arts & Culture

What a Paragraph Is

On the controversial directive that a paragraph must contain a topic sentence, an idea that theorists, writers, and students have questioned for decades.

Arts & Culture

Harry Potter, the Arthurian Romance

Perhaps the Harry Potter stories are so potent because they rework the iconic hero stories of medieval French Arthurian romances.

Lesbianism (!) at the Convent

Mother Superior Benedetta Carlini, a visionary nun of Renaissance Italy, was accused of heresy and “female sodomy.”

The Digital Voyage

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk has Reinvented Research

Online services like Amazon's "Mechanical Turk" have ushered in a golden age in survey research. But is it ethical for researchers to use them?

Politics & History

The Lost Kingdom of Kush

A handful of archaeological sites and the written language Meroitic are all that remains of the Kingdom of Kush, located in what is now Sudan.

Long Reads

Education & Society

Lesbianism (!) at the Convent

Mother Superior Benedetta Carlini, a visionary nun of Renaissance Italy, was accused of heresy and “female sodomy.”

Education

The Controversy around Commencement Speeches, Part MMXVIII

Why are battles over just who gets the honor of toasting new graduates—and what they say—always so heated?

Politics & History

Treadmills Were Meant to Be Atonement Machines

America’s favorite piece of workout equipment was developed as a device for forced labor in British prisons. It was banned as cruel and inhumane by 1900.

Plants & Animals

The Race to Save the Axolotl

When an axolotl loses a limb, it regrows, and nary a scar remains. But this incredible creature is on the brink of extinction.

Editors' Picks

Education & Society

The Story of the Invention of the Potato Chip Is a Myth

Everyone knows the potato chip was invented in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1853. Except it wasn’t.

Politics & History

Stranded on the Island of the Blue Dolphins: The True Story of Juana Maria

Juana Maria, the lost woman of San Nicolas island, is as famous for her namelessness as for the lonely adventure she endured.

Science & Technology

A Different Kind of Public Health Message

Researchers have found that Americans experience radically different health outcomes depending on their race and socioeconomic status.

Politics & History

The Unexpected Effects of the Oklahoma City Bombing

Divorce rates declined considerably in Oklahoma City during the immediate aftermath of the 1995 bombing there. Social scientists have a few theories as to why.

Science & Technology

Synesthesia for Beginners

Synesthesia—a mixing and merging of the senses—is surprisingly common. Studies of the phenomenon can help explain how the brain and sensory system work.

Arts & Culture

What a Paragraph Is

On the controversial directive that a paragraph must contain a topic sentence, an idea that theorists, writers, and students have questioned for decades.