What does "boredom" even mean? As both a word and a concept, boredom is not a universal phenomenon but a historical construction specific to our times.

Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.

Being a fitness instructor isn’t a very highly-paid job, but, researchers found that the job provides other rewards for the people who love it.

The colonial Dutch tradition of making social calls on New Year's Day in New York was no match for 19th-century-style partying.

On a diet or cleanse in the new year? You're continuing in the very American tradition of self-perfection.

Monopoly's real inventor was Lizzie Magie, a progressive Georgist, who believed that land should be collectively owned by all.

Indonesia has the highest smoking rates in the world. Why? It might have to do with economic liberalization in the 1990s.

With New Year’s Day on the horizon, many people will write their resolutions. Rudyard Kipling's poem explores the trials and tribulations of resolutions.

Warriors rarely give up their power, but the samurai of Japan dwindled away rapidly after the Meiji Restoration and the modernization of the country.

Debates about the moral value of biodiversity are longstanding in the world of environmental ethics, and the issue is far from settled.