Dime Novels and Story Papers for Kids
The rise of popular literature for children put a story, a role model, and a set of values in a young boy’s pocket.
Chronemics and the Nonverbal Language of Time
Through the lens of chronemics, we can examine why time appears to have a different essence at, well, different times.
The Ecological Prescience of Dune
Frank Herbert’s novel isn't just about space messiahs, giant sandworms, and trippy space drugs. At its core, the sci-fi epic is about ecology.
The Theory of Cuss Word Relativity
Which words are considered taboo varies by place and time, scholars find.
The Life Changing Linguistics of… Nigerian Scam Emails
How do scammers use language to trick their victims?
With Social Media, Everyone’s A Celebrity
Social media has made constant exposure a common experience. To learn how to deal with the attention, maybe we should look to the first celebrities.
Why Luddites Are Fashionable Again
Today we call anyone with a flip phone a Luddite. But the term has radical origins.
To Cope with Digital Distraction, Embrace Digital Neurodiversity
The internet is changing our brains. Our columnist suggests that maybe this isn't such a bad thing.
The Tangled Language of Jargon
What our emotional reaction to jargon reveals about the evolution of the English language, and how the use of specialized terms can manipulate meaning.
The Unbearable Sadness of Toast
One scholar sees the toaster as a symbol of a modernized, industrialized society—the culprit of bread’s mechanization and a perpetrator of assimilation.