When Conservation Comes with Paramilitary Troops (Mongabay)
by Mike DiGirolamo
In the Congo Basin, the militarized “fortress conservation” model of environmental protection has led to the expulsion of thousands of people. Local communities are pushing for a different approach.

The Artist Who Painted the Creatures of the Deep (Hakai Magazine)
by Brad Fox
In the 1930s, artist Else Bostelmann created images used to document newly discovered deep-sea creatures—without ever seeing them herself.

Rachel Carson’s Critics Called Her a Witch (JSTOR Daily)
by Livia Gershon
When Silent Spring was published, the response was overtly gendered. Rachel Carson’s critics depicted her as hysterical, mystical, and witchy.

The Mass Shootings You Didn’t Hear About (Undark)
by Rod McCullom
Were there twelve mass shootings last year, or more than 2,000? When we only count indiscriminate violence in public places, we miss the vast majority of these incidents and misunderstand who their victims are.

The Deaths of Bonnie and Clyde (JSTOR Daily)
by Matthew Wills
Bonnie and Clyde went to their deaths on May 23, 1934.

A Monumental Book-Printing Project in 1085 (Smithsonian Magazine)
by Jasmine Liu
Centuries before the Gutenberg Bible was produced, Chinese monks and artisans printed thousands of volumes of Buddhist sutras and legal philosophy.

When Did People Start Kissing? (The Guardian)
by Mabel Banfield-Nwachi
Many scholars have assumed that romantic kissing began as a quirky cultural practice that gradually spread around the world. But new research suggests that it was more widespread in ancient societies than previously believed.

Is Star Wars Cultural Appropriation? (JSTOR Daily)
by Julia Métraux
Orientalism is alive and well in the wildly popular franchise, argues one scholar.

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