Jack Halberstam, Afsaneh Najmabadi-Evaz and bell hooks

Gender Studies: Foundations and Key Concepts

Gender studies developed alongside and emerged out of Women’s Studies. This non-exhaustive list introduces readers to scholarship in the field.
The Knightscope K5 Security Robot

Do Security Robots Signal the Death of Public Space?

A security robot targets the homeless, raising questions about whether private companies can expand their security detail to public spaces like sidewalks.
A Canadian flag with a pot leaf at its center

How Big Will Canada’s Legal Cannabis Market Be?

With recreational marijuana use now legal across Canada, companies are jockeying for market share while bureaucracies struggle to make estimates.
Richard Attenborough, William Goldman and Joe Levine, 1975

William Goldman and the Mystery of Screenwriting

Authorship of Hollywood screenplays is often a complicated matter. But William Goldman was truly a writer in Hollywood.
A hand holding a sandwich

Why Do Americans Eat Three Meals a Day?

A Curious Reader asks: What’s the origin of the familiar breakfast-lunch-dinner triad?
Bloody Mary

Digestion, Hangovers, and Sinister Magic

Well-researched stories from Slate, Public Books, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Cat Mummy

Why Ancient Egyptians Loved Cats So Much

Ancient Egyptians' love of cats developed from an appreciation of their rodent-catching skills to revering them as sacred creatures.
Silhouette de château illuminé par un orage, by Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo: Surrealist Artist

Victor Hugo created visual art that was intuitive, experimental, and inspired by Spiritualism. In other words, nothing like his novel Les Misérables.
Lick Observatory

The Women Who Made Male Astronomers’ Ambitions Possible

In the late 19th century, Elizabeth Campbell helped her astronomer husband run the Lick Observatory and lead scientific eclipse-viewing expeditions.
Members of the Cascades Butterfly Citizen Science Team

A Scientific Look at Citizen Science

Citizen science involves using large numbers of volunteers to collect data for scientific research. But does it result in usable data?