JSTOR Daily published around 700 stories in 2019—that’s a lot for our small staff. Here are the greatest hits: our personal favorites and yours. As always, each of these stories includes free, open links to relevant scholarship in JSTOR. Happy New Year!
How Language and Climate Connect
July 10, 2019
While we’re losing biological diversity, we’re also losing linguistic and cultural diversity at the same time. This is no coincidence.
Sorry, but Jane Eyre Isn’t the Romance You Want It to Be
February 27, 2019
Charlotte Brontë, a woman whose life was steeped in stifled near-romance, refused to write love as ruly, predictable, or safe.
The Extremely Real Science behind the Basilisk’s Lethal Gaze
March 28, 2019
According to the extramission theory of vision, our eyes send out beams of elemental fire that spread, nerve like, to create the visual field.
Enfranchisement Is the Only Route to Security
March 28, 2019
In our final security studies column, our columnist posits that security as a permanent mode of government is actually making Americans less secure.
Should Walt Whitman Be #Cancelled?
April 17, 2019
Black America talks back to "The Good Gray Poet" at 200.
A Mini History of the Tiny Purse
May 29, 2019
The purse has always been political, a reflection of changing economic realities and gender roles.
Anthropologists Hid African Same-Sex Relationships
July 5, 2019
Sex between people of the same gender has existed for millennia. But anthropologists in sub-Saharan Africa often ignored or distorted those relationships.
Richard Prum: How Does Beauty Evolve?
August 31, 2019
Prum speaks on Darwin’s idea of sexual selection, the importance of arbitrary traits, and why he could never choose a favorite species of bird.
To Fight Fake News, Broaden Your Social Circle
January 15, 2019
Fake news is spread through online communities that become echo-chambers of like-minded ideas. What's your online community like?
The Question of Race in Beowulf
September 25, 2019
J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal scholarship on Beowulf centers a white male gaze. Toni Morrison focused on Grendel and his mother as raced and marginal figures.
The Tweety Bird Test
October 9, 2019
How a classic Tweety Bird cartoon became a mainstay in linguistics research.
What’s Causing the Rise of Hoarding Disorder?
January 16, 2019
Now that the DSM lists severe hoarding as a disorder apart from OCD, psychologists are asking what explains its prevalence.
Was Modernism Meant to Keep the Working Classes Out?
January 9, 2019
In the 19th century, more working class readers started partaking in contemporary fiction. Modernist literature, however, was specifically not for them.
Are Honey Bees Bad for Wild Bees?
March 4, 2019
Recently, the health of the honey bees has been a topic of some concern. But many scientists think we should actually be worrying about wild bees instead.
When Home Ec Classes Borrowed Babies
January 5, 2019
In the early-to-mid 20th century, foster children in Canada and elsewhere were placed in practice homes and cared for by home economics students.
Yes, Americans Owned Land Before Columbus
March 4, 2019
What you were taught in elementary school about Native Americans not owning land is a myth. The truth is much more complicated.
How the Plague Reshaped the World
May 30, 2019
The bacterium that causes the plague emerged relatively recently, as bacterium go. And yet the pandemics it's created have altered the world.
The Cemetery Symbol of Eternal Love
February 14, 2019
Why did Victorian-era gravestones include so many images of clasped hands?
What The Great Gatsby Reveals About The Jazz Age
May 8, 2019
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel embraced jazz, while also falling prey to the racist caricatures associated with it.
Workplace Burnout is Nothing New
June 15, 2019
Doctors were talking about the dangers of chronic stress, exhaustion, and anxiety back in 1909, predicting dire consequences if the symptoms were ignored.
The 1910 Report That Disadvantaged Minority Doctors
May 3, 2019
A century ago, the Flexner Report led to the closure of 75% of U.S. medical schools. It still explains a lot about today’s unequal access to healthcare.
The 4 Questions to Ask before You Unplug
April 16, 2019
If you're concerned about the internet's effects on the world and on yourself, unplugging might not be the answer.
“Meet John Doe” Shows the Darkness of American Democracy
October 24, 2019
Meet John Doe, Frank Capra’s 1941 drama, carries forward the populist themes of his other movies, only with a much darker premise.
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Creative?
August 28, 2019
Machines can write compelling ad copy and solve complex "real life" problems. Should the creative class be worried?
When Dancing Plagues Struck Medieval Europe
January 10, 2019
The tarantella is named for a peasant woman from southern Italy whose tarantula bite started a contagious dancing fever!
How 19th Century Scientists Predicted Global Warming
December 17, 2019
Today’s headlines make climate change seem like a recent discovery. But Eunice Newton Foote and others have been piecing it together for centuries.
Satan, the Radical
July 29, 2019
There is a long history of leftist thinkers embracing Satan, usually just as a way to shake up political rhetoric.
What are your favorites? Head over to our Facebook page and let us know! Or have a look at last year’s list.
AMAZING list, right? If you love us as much as we love our writers, please become a member on our Patreon page.
