JSTOR Daily Suggested Readings

Suggested Readings: Bitcoin, Romance Novels, and the Santa Ana Winds

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.
Chimpanzee

The Complexity of Animal Communication

Alarm calls truly display the complexity of animal communication. Chimps tailor their warning communications based on the knowledge level of the recipient.
Sugar cane trade Portugal

Madeira, The Island That Helped Invent Capitalism

Madeira is famous for its wine and scenery today, but in the 15th century it boomed and then busted as the sugar capital of the world.
Sad tiger

Homeless Tigers, Suicidal Farmers, and Fish that Feed on Booze Waste

Meet fish that eat booze waste, learn about the homelessness crisis among Sumatra's tigers, and find out why American farmers are committing suicide.
Wooden retro radio

Before Net Neutrality, There Was Radio Regulation

Before today's fight over net neutrality, the US government debated commercial profitability & popular access in the context of a different medium: radio.
JSTOR recipes

5 Great Recipes from JSTOR

‘Tis the season for feasting and family traditions. And around here, that means digging into JSTOR’s digital library. ...
Suffragette posters

How Women’s Suffrage Has Been Represented in American Film

Women's suffrage was usually portrayed negatively in early films, but suffragists well recognized the importance of movies in getting their message out.
Etta Semple

The Godless Sex Radicals of the Kansas Plains

One of the biggest trends in American religious beliefs today is the rise of the “nones." In the 1880s, they might have called themselves freethinkers.
Kimono pattern

The Surprising History of the Kimono

The kimono that the world associates with Japan was actually created in the late-nineteenth century as a cultural identifier.
60s exchange floor

Are Free Markets Fictional?

Back in the 1940s, when America's post-war economic system was taking shape, many popular economists agreed that “free markets” were a fiction.