Paul Newman lets a lit cigarette hang from his mouth while lining up a pool shot in a scene from the film 'The Hustler', 1961.

Playing It Straight and Catching a Break

Cue games have had a lingering influence on our language and culture—even before the contributions of “Fast Eddie” Felson.
A map of the moon

Finding Caves on the Moon Is Great. On Mars? Even Better.

The recent discovery of a large cave on the Moon highlights the importance of caves not just for future space explorers but astrobiology as well.

A Selection of Student Confessions

Did you break a campus rule? Let the students of Millersville Normal School show you how to confess to the administration.
Thurgood Marshall, 1976

Thurgood Marshall

In a speech marking the bicentennial of the US Constitution, Marshall argued that its framers intentionally inscribed slavery into the American economy.
A student studying in her dorm

Back to School

Stories from JSTOR Daily about education, libraries, learning, and student life.
A Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations: With a briefe Rehearsall of their false and dangerous Tenents.

The Bawdy House Riots of 1668

Though so-called bawdy house riots were common in seventeenth-century London, the disorder of 1668 revealed the city’s deep political and religious resentments.
Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.31326238

The Sovereignty of the Latter-day Saints

Less about morality than about rights, the Mormon War of 1858 hinged on the issue of polygamy, pitting a Utah community against federal authorities.
Edwin Gonzalez, Iris Alomar, and Ray Gerdes, the three winners in the inaugural hamburger eating contest, at the Police Athletic League youth center on West 79th Street in New York City, New York, circa 1955.

The Curious History of Competitive Eating

The annals of competitive eating contests are full of more than just hot dogs.
An Indian bistro in New York City

The Shrewd Business Logic of Immigrant Cooks

Savvy observers, immigrant restaurateurs operate as amateur anthropologists who analyze their potential customers to determine how to best attract them.
An abstract cell represented as an object of dots. Molecular grid. 3d technology style with particle. Vector illustratione for chemistry and science.

Life, Reality, and Eating Plastic

Well-researched stories from Big Think, Nautilus, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.