How far would you go to defend yourself against a personal slight?

Duels were once considered affairs of honour and a way for upper-class men to solve disputes. Indeed, long before we decided that conversation rather than fists should solve our disagreements, the politician who inspired the hit musical Alexander Hamilton met his ends in a duel — although they didn't always end that way.

In a world of personal patronage ruled by the code duello, Matthew Wills discusses the surprisingly rational meaning behind this now passé custom.

JSTOR Daily stories provide background - historical, scientific, literary, political, and otherwise - for understanding our world.

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A slap, followed by a duel

Forget the warnings: defying mortality can be a morally appropriate goal.

Stories about immortality are present in many cultures throughout time. How cultures perceive immortality, as a blessing or a curse, can differ widely. Livia Gershon explores how, unlike Gothic European literature, Taoism-inspired Chinese stories don’t present immortality as an essentially lonely state, but something much more profound.

The trouble with immortality

His death and his typewriter are intertwined.

Poetry was his solace from prison itself and the crimes that led him there. Bunny McFadden recounts her uncle's experiences writing poetry in prison and advocating for Indigenous prison rights. In a challenging environment with powerful words, he fought for activities previously barred to prisoners, derided as 'luxuries'.

Writing poetry in prison as an act of resistance

They only ever met once, by accident.

Madame von Meck's enormous donations to the 19th-century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky has cemented her as one of Russia's most indispensable patrons of the arts. But the pair only ever corresponded through letters. Emily Zarevich delves into this unusual patronage and explores why, particularly when virtual friendships are widespread, all relationships matter.

Tchaikovsky's patroness

How understandings of gender and sex can be erased quickly.

In the Edo era of Japan from 1603 to 1867, young men went beyond the dichotomy of male and female to include what is often referred to as a “third gender” or Wakashu. Christin Bohnke explores this fascinating rite of passage for young men back then and examines why, by the second half of the nineteenth century, it had all but disappeared.

The disappearance of Japan's "Third Gender"

We need to update monsters for our times.

Fictional evil creatures might be more nuanced and have more to teach us than has long seemed. From Frankenstein to Beowolf, Cody Delistraty explores the complexities of examining all literary and mythical monsters under traditional and outdated moral views.

What if we've been misunderstanding monsters?

Reflections on the absence of light.

In a blackout, you do not hear or taste the darkness; you see it. It looks a certain way. But can we really trust our eyes? From Aristotle to Chinese Mohists, Roy Sorensen explores the philosophy of shadows.

Do we actually see shadows?

How does witchcraft align with the social movement?

Feminism tends to be viewed as a secular practice, but what most don't realise is that it emerged and developed as society broke free from the religious doctrines justifying the subjugation of women.

Jessa Crispin explores how the histories of witchcraft and feminism are closely connected, examining how women gained the power to change the world and fight the source of their oppression.

Feminism’s hidden spiritual side

They hold many secrets.

The world has billions of trees, but some are slightly more special than others. Olivia Box explores how researcher Lynda Mapes spent a year reconstructing the life history of a hundred-year-old red oak to extract secrets on climate change.

What does a tree see?

From the Ancient Greeks to the present day.

Depending on the lore you follow, demons could be minor Gods, intermediate supernatural beings or even the spawn of Satan. Livia Gershon explores the fascinating and ever-evolving meaning of the word throughout history.

Where demons come from

You can’t spot a liar just by looking.
 
Across cultures, people believe that behaviours such as averted gaze, fidgeting and stuttering are telltale examples of deceit. But researchers have found next to no evidence to support this. Jessica Seigel explores how psychologists are zeroing in on methods that might actually work.

The truth about lying

The positives and negatives of our behavioural immune system.

Disgust is often praised for its role in curbing the need for biological protection. Whether you avoid someone coughing or swipe left on a dating app, Louise Fabiani reveals how you are engaging with an ancient reflex thought to reduce contact with the disease but also producing strong reactions to perceived outsiders.

Is disgust related to morality?

Get to know more about the dispute.

Academic research on Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories provides historical context for recent violence in the region. Eric Schewe explores a variety of research, available for free, that can help better understand what is happening now.

Titles of the mentioned texts:

Joel Beinin, “Mixing, Separation and Violence in Urban Spaces and The Rural Frontier in Palestine,” The Arab Studies Journal, Spring 2013, Vol. 21, No. 1, Twentieth Anniversary Issue, pp. 14-47.

Janet Abu-Lughod, “Israeli Settlements in Occupied Arab Lands: Conquest to Colony,” Journal of Palestine Studies, Winter 1982, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 16-54.

Marina Sergides, “Housing in East Jerusalem: Marina Sergides reports on a legal mission to the Occupied Palestine Territory,” Socialist Lawyer, No. 60 (February 2012), pp. 14-17.

Raja Shehadeh, “From Jerusalem to the Rest of the West Bank,” Review of Middle East Studies, June 2019, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 6-19.

Joyce Dalsheim and Assaf Harel, “Representing Settlers,” Review of Middle East Studies, Winter 2009, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Winter 2009), pp. 219-238.

Settlements and the Israel-Palestine conflict: background reading

Although it often gets a bad reputation, sci-fi offers readers a way to rethink social dilemmas.

Books like "Harry Potter" and "The Hunger Games" may be rooted in magical or completely dystopian worlds but at their core, there are "examples of young people grappling with serious social, economic, and political issues that are timely and relevant." In this piece for JSTOR Daily, Esther Jones — Associate Professor of English at Clark University — explains why this is a powerful tool for younglings, as it encourages them to think critically about the real world early in their own lives.

This story was originally published in JSTOR Daily in May 2020.

Sci-fi and fantasy build mental resiliency in young readers

The philosophical answer to why we can't stop daydreaming about adventures gone by.

"Travel is a commodity, a privilege, and a state of mind; a comfort to some and a trial to others." It's the one thing most people around the world weren't able to do in 2020, and one that everyone's hoping to do in 2021. But, how much do we know about the psychological reasons we do it? Lorraine Boissoneault contemplates.

The end of the tour: why do we travel?

Netflix's hit show "Bridgerton" is based on the famous romantic sub-genre.

The Britsh Regency era lasted less than a decade, but it spawned a staggering number of unlikely fictional marriages, following common traits that "include an anachronistically independent heroine who must contend with strict social rules, a Season packed with balls and dances, vicious gossip that spreads like wildfire, and a happily-ever-after with a reformed rake of a duke (or viscount)." In this insightful piece for JSTOR Daily, Jess Romeo examines the genre's appeal and why it continues to resonate so strongly even today.

Why are so many romances set in the Regency period?

A utopian strain in sci-fi fandom brought readers uncomfortably close to an alignment with fascism.

"Science fiction is often a vehicle for social and political ideas, from celebrations of high-tech space colonialism to warnings about the misuse of technology." Livia Gershon explores in JSTOR Daily the self-styled ‘supermen’ of the 1940s, who imagined themselves as the heroes of a sci-fi story about a genetically advanced human race.

The self-styled sci-fi supermen of the 1940s

Our newest culinary trend is also our oldest.

What exactly are comfort foods? Well, while science narrows it down to their nutritional value — often high fat and sugar dishes that provide temporary stress relief — it's also a matter of heartstrings and memory. April White contemplates this gastronomic and emotional question.

A brief history of comfort food

The White House Transition project is a pivotal resource for a newcomer government — here is how it works.

We take a look at this piece from Erin Blakemore for JSTOR Daily, where she analyses Martha Joynt Kumar's interviews with White House staffers through the years, giving us interesting insights.

How do White House transitions actually work?

In American society, white women are often understood as victims. But they can also be perpetrators.

The Women’s KKK, an affiliated-but-separate racist organization for white Protestant women, courted members through an insincere "empowerment feminism.” Emily Cataneo, from JSTOR Daily, takes a closer look.