The new rise of anti-Semitism (The Guardian)
by Harriet Sherwood
As Pittsburgh reels from a deadly attack on a synagogue, a number of studies have found that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. and beyond.

Science and gender (Wired)
by Adam Rodgers and Megan Molteni
The Trump administration has been working to roll back protections for transgender people and define gender based on “birth sex” and “genetic testing.” What does science actually say about sex and gender?

Relaxing with lavender (The New York Times)
by JoAnna Klein
You know all those lavender lotions and bath soaks that are supposed to help calm you down? A new study finds there’s good evidence that they really do work.

Who’s afraid of painted statues? (The New Yorker)
by Margaret Talbot
Since the nineteenth century, many scholars have known that ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were often painted in bright colors. But the myth of pure, white marble endured, driven by faith in the uniqueness, and whiteness, of the West.

Writing the history of maize (Smithsonian Magazine)
by Charles C. Mann
Archeologists have been working for more than a hundred years to uncover the history of maize and the cultures that engineered it from a simple grass into a staple food. New techniques are clarifying the story.

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