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Black and white headshot of author Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon is a freelance writer in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her writing has appeared in publications including Salon, Aeon Magazine and the Good Men Project. Contact her on Twitter @liviagershon.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal April 1895 Public Domain via <a href="http://elusivemu.se/resources-for-artists-public-domain-fashion-images/#prettyPhoto[gallery-1]/1" target="_blank">elusivemu.se</a>
Arts & Culture

The Birth of Fashion Magazines

Fashion magazines, which first emerged in the 19th century, bridged notions of femininity with an increasingly consumerist society.
Family sitting around the dinner table.
Education & Society

What Makes a “Home”?

Privacy and retreat weren't always hallmarks of one's home.
Spoiled girl crying.
Education & Society

The Spoiled Child Is Not a Modern Invention

You know what’s wrong with kids these days? They want to “take things easy.” Or so said a school superintendent in 1905.
Philadelphia, PA, USA - December 12, 2014; Temple University students march on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA during a 'Black Lives Mater' protest march. (photo by Bas Slabbers)
Education

Challenging Unpopular Ideas on College Campuses Isn’t New

And it wasn't invented by millenials.
Sign for LGBT
Business

The Work Life of Transpeople

How transpeople actively do and undo gender in the workplace.
Concerned Student 1950, led by University of Missouri graduate student Jonathan Butler, second from right, speaks following the announcement that University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe would resign Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Columbia, Mo. Wolfe resigned Monday with the football team and others on campus in open revolt over his handling of racial tensions at the school. (Sarah Bell/Missourian via AP)
Education & Society

The Pervasive Racism on U.S. College Campuses

How faculty and students of color are marginalized by their own institutions.
A girl studying.
Business & Economics

The Real Driver Behind Curbing Population Growth

The solution isn't minimizing poverty or supplying more contraceptives.
Grasslands
Science & Technology

How Mining Impacted the Midwestern Grasslands

Is it possible to recover from the effects of coal mining? We investigate.
Campaign Donors
Politics & Government

The Five Percent: Looking at Where the Largest Campaign Donors Come From

The majority of campaign donors live in just five percent of the country's zip codes. Here is where they ideologically stand on issues.
Danish flags in Jens Bangs Stenhus, Aalborg
Politics & Government

Does Socialism Make People Happy?

Bernie Sanders cites Denmark's social welfare programs as a model. We turn to socialism and see whether he's right.
Oprah Winfrey
Business

Oprah, Weight Watchers, and the Power of Shame

Oprah Winfrey has recently acquired Weight Watchers. We look at them and other organizations dedicated to weight loss and body image.
An office secretary - 1970s
Arts & Culture

A Woman’s Life in Publishing

Anita D. McClellan entered the publishing industry as a secretary, one of the few opportunities available to women at the time. We tell her story.
Extra Credit Suggested Readings from JSTOR Daily Editors
Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings: Unisex Brains, Cops and Communities, and Touching Other People

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.
Politicians Having a Beer
Politics & Government

The Upside of Partisanship

How partisanship shapes voter decision-making and turnout.
Charter Schools
Education

Charter School Networks: How They’re Funded

We look at the role the federal government and private donors play in funding charter school networks.
Smart Fourtwo Passion Coupe parked in driveway
Business

The Cost of Going Hybrid

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

Bringing Education to Prisoners

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

How Beer Companies Made Light Beer Macho

Light beer was originally marketed for its reduced calorie count. But heavy drinking men weren't into that.
Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Business & Economics

What Early Economists Thought About Sex

We take a look at how sex was viewed by early economists, from Sir William Petty to Adam Smith to Jeremy Bentham.
Pile of textbooks on a desk
Education

The Racism of History Textbooks

How history textbooks reinforced narratives of racism, and the fight to change those books from the 1940s to the present.
Slum
Business & Economics

America: A Welfare Nation

We think of welfare as social security for the economically vulnerable. Maybe it's time we rightfully enlarge what we mean by the term.
Student using a cell phone
Education

Should Cell Phones Be Used in the Classroom?

When schools welcome the use of cell phones and other technologies in the classroom.
Original caption: 12/31/1916-Dorothy Day (1897-1980), American journalist and reformer, born in Brooklyn, NY. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images)
Politics & History

Dorothy Day and the Activism of the Catholic Church

We look back at the work of social activist Dorothy Day, who's staunch defense of labor unions fell in-line with the activism of the Catholic Church.
Butter-making, Appalachia, USA, c1917. (Photo by EFD SS/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
Business

Gender and Family Farms: An Investigation

We look at how gender affects the roles of men, women, and children on family farms in Appalachia.
Row of workers at their desks
Business

How Temp Jobs Changed Everything

Temporary employment, popularly known as temp jobs, skyrocketed in the 1990s. A look at its dramatic impact on the labor market.

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