Photomicrograph image of pyrrhotite under a reflected light ore microscope

Home Foundations Are Crumbling. This Mineral Is to Blame.

Pyrrhotite causes cracks in concrete. But research on how widespread the issue might be has only scratched the surface.
The cover of Black Milk by Elif Shafak

Fear and Fertility in Elif Shafak’s Black Milk

Shafak exposes her terror over motherhood’s potential to devour creativity—a panic she imagines sharing with a parade of literary forebears.
Cats wait for fishermen to feed them their catch on August 7, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Best of Suggested Readings 2024

Well-researched stories about Turkish cats, salmon hats, and more from publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Source: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/Façade-van-het-Dogepaleis-te-Venetië--bf66995c5e586e6e743e81f058f33dfa

Venice, the Walkable Sixteenth-Century City

In early modern Venice, walking was the most convenient mode of transportation for almost everyone. It was also a symbol of strength and nobility for elites.
Mural by Diego Rivera which satirizes the role of the US, UFC, Catholic Church and the military in the Guatemalan coup. The individuals giving the handshake are John Foster Dulles and general Castillo Armas.

A Private Coup: Guatemala, 1954

A 1954 coup, backed by the CIA and private citizen William Pawley, installed an authoritarian regime and touched off four decades of civil war in Guatemala.
Vignette on page 1 of Volume 6 from Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des insectes, by René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur.

Insects in the Mail

The efficiency of the postal system and generosity of local experts played important roles in the advancement of entomology in eighteenth-century France.
A game table by David Roentgen

Editors’ Picks of 2024

Magical furniture, toxic gardens, and Scottish hideaways: we’ve gathered our favorite JSTOR Daily stories published this year.
The fool plough, 1814

Plough Monday

Or, how to follow the Christmas holiday with a festival of pranks, trick-or-treating, and drunken revelry.
An orange cat playing with a toy

Ginger, Tortie, Calico

The mystery gene responsible for orange color in cat coats has been found.
Grand Central terminal clock

Keeping Time: A New Year’s Collection

A selection of stories that chronicle our complicated notions of time.