The pun is in an interesting bind: it is both ubiquitous and reviled. We try to understand why.

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

Pre-K may help the child, but does it get mothers back to work?

Looking into the underlying causes of the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century.

The Citizens for Decent Literature launched various anti-obscenity campaigns against magazines like Playboy and MAD and books like Catcher in the Rye.

For 30 years we have assumed that no life would return to Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster there. We may be wrong.

What makes us buy hybrid cars? Going beyond the environmental argument.

Yes, there was once such a thing as a liberal Republican. We take a look at the rise and fall of John Lindsay, former Mayor of New York.

In Genesis 38, Tamar, disguised as a prostitute, tricks her father-in-law into having sex with her. I don’t recall this making the Sunday school curriculum.

Is there an alternative to the punitive treatment of criminals? We look at the history of correctional education reforms within the American prison system.