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The Editors

A blue toilet with its lid closed

Toilet Plumes, Black Commons, and Romanian Orphans

Well-researched stories from The Cut, The Atlantic, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Dorothy B Porter

15 Black Women Who Should Be (More) Famous

Honoring the scientists, poets, activists, doctors, and librarians--those we know and those we don't.
Juneteenth Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900, Texas by Mrs. Charles Stephenson

Juneteenth and the Emancipation Proclamation

The emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. took place over a protracted period. The articles in this curated list dig into the complicated history.
Attendees sing during the 48th Annual Juneteenth Day Festival on June 19, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Juneteenth in the Alternative Press

Reports in the underground press demonstrate how Juneteenth has been celebrated as both a social and political gathering in the twentieth century.
Dennis Franz and Rick Schroder in "NYPD Blue," 1998

Cop Shows, COVID Design, and Ancient Plague

Well-researched stories from The Conversation, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni on SOUL!, 1971

James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni in Conversation

In 1971, two legends of Black letters discussed Black manhood, white racism, the role of the writer, and the responsibility to teach.
Marlon Riggs, left, and Essex Hemphill in Tongues Untied.

Filmmaker Marlon Riggs: “Notice Is Served”

The award-winning Black gay filmmaker, author, and activist Marlon Riggs left a legacy of protest against racism and homophobia.
Alondra Nelson

Alondra Nelson: Leave More Genius Work Behind

How do those who have been the objects of scientific study and medical experimentation become the agents or the producers of scientific knowledge?
People gather in the rain outside of the White House for a peaceful protest against police brutality on June 4, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Black Exhaustion, Police Violence, and Challenge Trials

Well-researched stories from NBC, the Marshall Project, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Audre Lorde

Barbara Christian on Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde's influence on contemporary intersectional feminism was profound, as pioneering Black literary scholar Barbara Christian wrote.
A small panorama of the wetlands and marshes along the Pocomoke River in Worcester county on Maryland's eastern shore

Racism and Black Men’s Health, Ghost Forests, and Troublesome Tweets

Well-researched stories from Atlas Obscura, ScienceLine, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Musician Little Richard performs onstage in circa 1956.

Little Richard, Cordons Sanitaires, and Shiny Chocolate

Well-researched stories from The Conversation, Items, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A young man looks out his balcony window, ignoring his Zoom call

Zoom Fatigue, Bold Rats, and Drive-in Church

Well-researched stories from Quartz, Wired, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Anatomic drawing of Tumeric

These Plants Are Ready for Their Closeup

Move over cats of the internet, here comes something greener.
Garter snake

Friendly Snakes, Murderous Hornets, and Truth Seekers

Well-researched stories from Science, TribLive, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A graduate nurse and student nurses in isolation uniforms, early 1900s

Nurses Have Always Been Heroes

Nothing drives that home more than this amazing photo collection from the Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing.
Hero shrew

Shrew Spines, COVID Mysteries, and Pandemic Poverty

Well-researched stories from CNN, the New York Times, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A blue ocean below an almost cloudless sky

Escape Fantasies

From the archives: twelve tales of avoidance and self-preservation, right when you need them.
A flower against a light blue background

Resilient Flowers, Time Sense, and the Antarctic Accent

Well-researched stories from The New Yorker, Longreads, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
A large tree with moss-covered roots.

Ten Stories about Trees for Arbor Day

They talk to each other via underground networks, grow shy, migrate across the Earth's surface, and reverse some of the damage caused by climate change.
Sarah Bernhardt, 1899

To Be or Not to Be Hamlet

The drama of playing the famous prince. In pictures.
Contagion

Immunity, Contagion, and Talking Squid

Well-researched stories from Wired, CNBC, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Medical workers take in patients at a special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center on April 07, 2020 in the Borough Park neighborhood of the Brooklyn, NY

Viral Racism, Universal Antivirals, and Weird Dreams

Well-researched stories from Slate, The New Yorker, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks to reporters following a meeting of the coronavirus task force at the White House on April 6, 2020

Anthony S. Fauci on Pandemic Preparedness

Before he led the effort to contain COVID-19, the nation's top infectious disease expert published several papers about pandemic preparedness. Here are two.
A gloved hand holding a roll of toilet paper

Toilet Paper, Handwashing, and Labor Unrest

Well-researched stories from Marker, FiveThirtyEight, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.