JSTOR Daily

24/08/2025

Before COVID-19, there was SARS, the news coverage of which was typically accompanied by pictures of Asian women wearing protective face masks. https://bit.ly/41Uxh5n

23/08/2025

Most players of the *Civilization* series of video games think more about in-game strategy than the game’s relevance to actual history. But some who do make connections to the real world say that playing the game sparked their interest in studying the past.

The Civilization video games may not convey actual history very well, but they’ve encouraged generations of young people to learn more about the past.

22/08/2025

During the Second Sino-Japanese war, Japanese authorities cultivated an image of their country as both traditional and civilized, with enough commonalities with the West that modern tourists could conveniently tap it as “an ideal base” for their explorations of Korea, Manchuria, and China.

Even as Japan courted Western tourists with images of exotic customs and untouched landscapes, the Second Sino-Japanese War raged across East Asia.

22/08/2025

Sociology professor David J. Hutson writes that students tend to be skeptical about the “health at every size” movement, which posits that heavier weight doesn’t automatically mean being more prone to ill health. How do students arrive at their conclusions?

Body weight is in some ways a trickier topic for sociology students than other stigmas. One professor explains how he approaches the challenge of discussing it.

21/08/2025

From the US South to West Africa, the dispossession of Ghanaian and Black American families from their lands is not an isolated incident or coincidental but part of a larger global pattern.

A transatlantic story of Black land, loss, and resistance.

21/08/2025

At a time severely lacking in third spaces, libraries offer social activities designed to bring communities closer and enrich their lives.

The digital era builds upon millennia of librarianship as humans strive to preserve our cultural heritage.

20/08/2025

What was the Peoples Temple, and what did it offer its followers? For at least one person, it gave sanctuary from an abusive husband and hope, even while her story ended in a mass tragedy in the Guyanese jungle in 1978.

While the events that led to the Jonestown massacre included profound tragedy, the life—and death—of one of its residents offers lessons on community and resilience.

20/08/2025

English-language media has historically been filled with signifiers and direct references to France. *Mad Men* was no exception.

Mad Men’s in-universe fascination with Frenchness was so frequent and important to the plot(s) that it might as well have been a main character.

19/08/2025

Many modern and contemporary writers are drawn to the villanelle as a way to circle around their subject matter, exploring obsession, enchantment, brooding, or the slow work of untangling a difficult emotion.

Read these recursive, nineteen-line poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Paisley Rekdal, William Logan, Agha Shahid Ali, and more.

19/08/2025

Partisans of serious, sophisticated fiction may sometimes sniff at sites of online literary activity like Wattpad and AO3. But looking at the kinds of reading and writing done online highlights the social, collaborative nature of literature—not to mention the joy of reading. Digital social reading and more in this week’s Suggested Readings:

Well-researched stories from Undark, NPR, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

18/08/2025

Lulu Adams was born into a circus family, so it only made sense that she’d grow up to be a ground-breaking clown. Her story—and photos that help tell it—are part of the University of Sheffield’s National Fairground and Circus Archive, available via JSTOR.

Lulu Adams came from a long, illustrious line of circus performers and was credited—even if wrongly—with being the world’s first female clown.

17/08/2025

A half century ago ago, Benoit Mandelbrot coined the word “fractal” and pioneered a new type of geometry.

A half century ago ago, Benoit Mandelbrot coined the word "fractal" and pioneered a new type of geometry.