Well-researched stories from around the web that bridge the gap between news and scholarship. Brought to you each Tuesday from the editors of JSTOR Daily.

The gray area between life and death (The New Yorker)
by Rachel Aviv
Is Jahi McMath a very sick girl, or a corpse? A battle over the 13-year-old girl challenges the medical conventions that have developed around brain death.

The fans who invented cosplay (SYFY Wire)
by Carol Pinchefsky
Expensive, uncomfortable costumes have been part of science fiction fandom for almost 80 years. A look back at how it all started, from a historian of the genre.

The future of Superbowl ads (The Conversation)
by Mark Bartholomew
Superbowl ads are one of those things that unite Americans in a single conversation. But what happens when brands watch our reactions on social media to see how to target us next?

What birds can imagine (Atlas Obscura)
by Jessica Leigh Hester
Some birds have distinct danger calls to warn their comrades about specific threats. A clever study finds that when they hear these warnings, they picture the enemy they should be looking out for.

Talking about Poland and the Holocaust (The Washington Post)
by Volha Charnysh and Evgeny Finkel
Polish leaders are trying to control the way the nation’s experience during World War II is discussed. But that very experience helped to create a complicated political reality.

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