An illustration of The Hole from an October, 1962 issue of Recount, from Colorado State Penitentiary

Prisoners’ Rights: An Introductory Reading List

A selection of readings and visual material on the subject of prisoners’ rights to foster dialogue and discovery in the classroom.
An orangutan attacks a woman and pulls her hair in an illustration for the murder scene in Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue,' early 1840s. A victim lies on the floor, and a witness watches through a window.

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe: Annotated

Poe's 1841 story, arguably the first detective fiction, contains many tropes now considered standard to the genre, including a brilliant, amateur detective.
Illustration of two house sparrows

Words for Birds

From the meaning of birdsong to the history of birdwatching, from the effects of climate change to the cunning of crows—our bird stories have it all.
A street dog in Varanasi city, India

Our Most Popular Stories of 2022

Personality tests, street dogs, underwater treasures, and a natural history of dragons.
Close-up Vintage Wooden Hourglass on Wooden Background, Sand running through the bulbs for measuring the passing time

Editors’ Picks of 2022

Poetry, Polonius, and Prison: a collection of this year’s greatest hits from JSTOR Daily.
A Hundred Years Peace: The Signature of the Treaty of Ghent (Belgium), 1814

The Treaty of Ghent: Annotated

The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, an oft overlooked conflict that continues to shape the politics and culture(s) of North America.
Ground mustard

Peppers and Spice and Everything Nice

How humans have acquired, used, and assigned cultural value to spices, from sage to cinnamon, chili pepper to salt.
Taylor Swift Credit: Taylor Swift/Vevo

Desperately Seeking Taylor Swift

The lyrics, the music, and the metaphors of the pop star of the moment.

Exploring Images In (and Out of) Context

When you think you understand an image, ask yourself what contextual information might be missing.
Mothers' Crusade for Victory over Communism

Moral Panics: A Syllabus

Research-backed stories that consider how and why moral panics begin and spread, who they serve, and what becomes of them in the end.