Photo of a playful couple in holiday accessories by the Christmas tree

Face Value: Can You Spot a Cheater at First Glance?

Looking for love this holiday season? Science suggests first-glance impressions may offer tiny signals about personality, trust, and even cheating tendencies.
An aerial view of Bermuda

Bermuda: The Long and the Shorts of It

A tiny Atlantic outpost once central to Britain’s colonial world, Bermuda’s calm seas conceal centuries of trade, slavery, and superstition.
Crowd On Mumbai City Street At Night

In Praise of Loitering

A possible remedy to sexual harassment and assault in public spaces is to encourage more people of all kinds to spend time on the streets.
Amanda Gorman, Walt Whitman, and Joy Harjo

Poetry’s Vital Role in Politics

Like Walt Whitman before them, Joy Harjo and Amanda Gorman are reimagining what it means to be a poet in this democratic republic.
Children playing on a roundabout at a playground

Playing with Consciousness

Out-of-the-ordinary mental states are the goal of many religious rituals, but they’re also important in “playful” situations like kids’ games and fraternal hazing.
An illustration showing a post office building, a hand holding a smartphone, and a cover of the book "The Dark Forest Anthology."

The Case for a Public Social Media Platform

Artist and writer Joshua Citarella explores why corporate platforms corrode democracy—and what a postal-service-style digital commons could do differently.
Cross-section illustration of the Baths of Diocletian by French architect Edmond Paulin, 1880

Bread, Circuses, Baths: Bathing in Rome, the Public Way

By the fourth century CE, Rome had some 856 privately owned public baths, the grounds of which served as civic gardens adorned with sculptures.
Vintage illustration of a Snowflakes, snow crystals

Winter Holidays

Celebrate with some seasonal scholarship from JSTOR Daily for the winter holidays.
Raíces Garden. N 2nd St

Greening Philly’s Neglected Lots

Spearheaded by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, an urban beautification program transformed neighborhoods in the city of brotherly love.
People silhouettes outlined with a dotted line and amongst them a woman with a question mark on her face

Ideal Missing Persons

Overrepresented as victims, missing white women and girls drive ratings and clicks for traditional and internet media.