To Fight Fake News, Broaden Your Social Circle
Fake news is spread through online communities that become echo-chambers of like-minded ideas. What's your online community like?
The Ladylike Language of Letters
Letters reveal how language changes. They also offer a peek into the way people--especially women--have always constructed their private and public selves.
When Dancing Plagues Struck Medieval Europe
The tarantella is named for a peasant woman from southern Italy whose tarantula bite started a contagious dancing fever!
The World’s New Private Security Forces
The global private market for security has brought with it the need for hiring, measuring, and monitoring security workers in unprecedented ways.
Making Men Online
How the internet has both reinforced and tweaked traditional gender pathologies, especially for boys and men.
The Landlord Asks for a Christmas Rose
Bizarre customs of landholding—from demands for flowers to ritualized flatulence—reflect the philosophy that developed under the feudal system.
Jane Austen’s Subtly Subversive Linguistics
Why are Jane Austen books still so beloved? A linguist argues it has more to do with Austen's masterful use of language than with plot.
Do Security Robots Signal the Death of Public Space?
A security robot targets the homeless, raising questions about whether private companies can expand their security detail to public spaces like sidewalks.
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.