Opera di M. Bartolomeo Scappi, cuoco secreto di Papa Pio V

The Wild West of Papal Conclaves

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the death of a pope led to all sorts of chaos, from the destruction of art to armed violence in the streets.
The Suffragette Down with the Tom Cats

A Purrrrfect Political Storm

Crazy cat ladies have come to dominate this election season. It’s hardly the first time.

In the Stereoscope, Another World

Developed in the nineteenth century, the stereoscope gave people a new way of seeing themselves and the world around them.
The firefly petunia is genetically engineered to glow in the dark.

Gorgeous GMOs, Canyon Heritage, and Black Adoption

Well-researched stories from Sapiens, KFF Health News, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
The cover of The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort

Dr. Sex and the Anarchist Sex Cookbook

Known for his runaway bestseller The Joy of Sex, Alex “Dr. Sex” Comfort was an anarchist and a pacifist who preferred love and sex to war crimes.
The location of T Coronae Borealis (circled in cyan)

John Birmingham’s Discovery of the Blaze Star

John Birmingham discovered T Coronae Borealis in the narrow window when astronomy flourished in nineteenth-century Ireland.
Casa Malaparte

The Ins and Outs of Architecture

Use this wide-ranging collection of stories about architecture, landscape, and design to fuel your imagination and your research interests.
A detail from Ophelia by John Everett Millais, c. 1851

JSTOR Daily’s Archives of Art History

Our editors have rounded up a collection of stories about art, artists, museums, and the way (and why) we study them.
Famous Chicken Rice in Singapore

The Singaporean State on a Styrofoam Plate

Hawker centers, a uniquely Singaporean institution, bring a form of street commerce practiced around the world under the authority of state regulators.
"Fresh, red cloves grow on the branch, green leaves. Zanzibar, Tanzania"

Cloves: The Spice that Enriched Empires

Behind one humble spice lies a complex history of empires and profit, commodities and globalization.