When Margarine Was Contraband
Protectionist laws favoring producers of butter meant that getting margarine in Wisconsin was no easy feat.
Tackling Student Homelessness
College students are notoriously strapped for cash. For some, however, that youthful poverty becomes actual homelessness.
Barack Obama and the Nommo Tradition of Afrocentric Orality
A scholar analyzes two of Barack Obama's commencement speeches, using West African nommo oratory as a guide.
Why Clean Eating Can’t Save Your Soul
If hunger is moral purity, self-care a purchasable commodity, and wellness a stand-in for thinness, what does health really mean?
Is There a Place in Public History for Sacco and Vanzetti?
How Boston has marked the controversial trial and alleged crimes of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian immigrants executed for murder.
6 Ways to be a Digital Mentor to Your Kids
What’s involved in being a digital mentor? People have been asking me various version of this question in ...
Jerry Lewis: French Film Master
Jerry Lewis was lionized in France as a film auteur, a genius of movie-making. What did the French know that Americans didn't?
Six Surprising Facts About Spiderwebs
Intricate, strong, and rapidly-built, spider webs are more amazing even than they first appear. For a construction job done right, get a spider to do it.
Suggested Readings: Charlottesville, Prosthetic Limbs, and Sleeping in the Heat
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.
A Dead Fish “Vitamin Pill,” Microbes that Put Dinner on the Table, and a Truck that Runs On Cow Manure
From microbial biochemistry to recycling dead fish to manure-to-energy converters, here’s this week’s most surprising sustainability news.