hospital interior

The Cautionary Tale of India’s Private Hospitals

In 1985, a writer in Economic and Political Weekly saw the beginning of private hospitals in India and warned of the dangers of their mismanagement.
Infinite monkeys

The Inevitable Triumph of Iteration over Intellect

By virtue of pure chance, a monkey can come up with Romeo and Juliet. This suggests that we can circumvent comprehension and skip straight to competence.
Robinson Crusoe

The Real-Life Robinson Crusoe (Maybe)

Marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk, rescued after four years on a remote island, is usually taken as the model of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but is he really?
public shame

The Danger of Public Shaming in the Internet Age

The ritual of public shaming is nothing new. But today's brand of mass humiliation is more public, more widespread, more scarring, and potentially more dangerous. 
Memphis bridge

The People’s Grocery Lynching, Memphis, Tennessee

On March 2, 1892, in Memphis, Tennessee, a racially charged mob grew out of a fight between a black and a white youth near People’s Grocery.
Closeup of a colorful zipper with metal teeth

How WWI Made the Zipper a Success

A money belt with a zipper became an instant success among WWI U.S. sailors, whose uniforms did not have pockets. Almost all initial zipper sales were for the money belts.
Freedmen's School

Bringing Universal Education to the South

The year 2018 marks the 150th anniversary of a number of constitutional conventions in Southern states during Reconstruction. One lasting achievement was creating universal education systems.
Ursula Le Guin

RIP Ursula K. Le Guin

"Isn't the 'subjection of women' in science fiction merely a symptom of a whole which is authoritarian, power-worshipping, and intensely parochial?"
Dating algorithm

How to Build the Netflix of Love

There's no shortage of online dating sites and apps. But there’s one common problem with these services: they’re all looking at the wrong data. Dating apps should take a hint from Netflix's algorithm.
JSTOR Daily Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings: Olfactory Vocabulary, Contraceptive Apps, and Government Shutdowns

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.