Medicago sativa

Alfalfa: A Crop that Feeds Our Food

In 2023, American farmers grew more than 9 million acres of alfalfa. What makes this legume hay so special?
The Penguin logo on the cover of a paperback in 1944

But Why a Penguin?

Penguin Books built on an already strong tradition of branding through cute mascot “media stars” when they introduced their cartoon bird in 1935.
Broadside on the Anglo-Dutch wars, attacking Cromwell's aggression against Holland, and domestic tyranny; Cromwell stands in centre, with the tail of a serpent, made up of the gold coins of the Commonwealth

When All the English Had Tails

Where did the myth that English men (and probably women) were hiding tails beneath their clothing come from? And what was that about eggs?
Actors on stage during a performance of A Midsummer Night 's Dream

Shakespeare and Fanfiction

Despite an enduring slice of audience that treats his work as precious and mythic, most Shakespeare fans have rarely met an adaptive concept they didn’t like.
A collage of cover images from Johns Hopkins’ Collection of Middle East-inspired Sheet Music

Sheet Music: the Original Problematic Pop?

A Johns Hopkins University curator of sheet music and pop culture discusses a “Middle East-inspired” sheet-music collection that’s anything but.
Ostrich farm in the desert

Ostrich Bubbles

The birds aren’t the only ones with their heads in the sand.
Allegory of the Sense of Smell by Johann Glocker

Smells, Sounds, and the WNBA

Well-researched stories from The New Yorker, The Conversation, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Jizō, c. 1202

A Bodhisattva for Japanese Women

Originally known in China as Dizāng, the “savior of the damned,” Jizō has evolved into a protector of children and comforter of women in Japan.
Pensive attractive curly African American female being deep in thoughts, raises eye, wears fashionable clothes, stands against lavender wall.

Asking Scholarly Questions with JSTOR Daily

Help students develop analytic and scholarly questioning skills using a quick activity built on JSTOR Daily roundups and syllabi.
Sun Yat Sen

Remembering Sun Yat Sen Abroad

Museums around the world honor the history of the revolutionary, but as Singapore’s Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall shows, those memories aren’t easy to read.