Why do we love horror movies? (Aeon)
by Mathias Clasen
Many people consider horror movies a lowbrow form, appealing to “primitive” emotions like fear and disgust. But watching scenes of terror and violence may have surprising benefits in terms of psychological resilience and social cohesion.

Undercounting Black Americans (The Washington Post)
by Tara Bahrampour
Difficulties with the 2020 Census mean that it’s probably less accurate than earlier counts in a number of ways—particularly in its count of Black Americans. What will that mean for political representation and public programs?

The unmanliness of alcohol (Nursing Clio)
by Dillon Carroll
After the Civil War, some former soldiers took to heavy drinking. To some other men, this reflected a deeply unmasculine lack of self-control.

When sacred objects can’t go home again (Sapiens)
by Stephen E. Nash
Museums are working to return ancestral grave posts, or vigango, stolen from Kenya’s Mijikenda tribes. But to the communities that made them, the removal of the vigango changed them in ways that make their homecomings difficult.

The dangers of talking about 2050 (Yale Environment 360)
by Fred Pearce
When world leaders sit down in Glasgow next month to talk about climate change, many will be describing big goals for 2050. But they may not mean much without concrete plans on a much shorter timescale.

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