As a child, I would wait with anticipation for my parents to return from trips to the Soviet Union. Often they brought gifts like a few loaves of hearty brown bread, or a wheel of briny, homemade cheese. Sometimes they also brought back notebooks, or bits of paper with verses scribbled in Ukrainian. These were...
Culture
How Scammers Like Anna Delvey and the Tinder Swindler Exploit a Core Feature of Human Nature
Maybe she had so much money she just lost track of it. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. That’s how Anna Sorokin’s marks explained away the supposed German heiress’s strange requests to sleep on their couch for the night, or to put plane tickets on their credit cards, which she would then forget to pay...
Clarifying the Complexities of Communication Across Millennia in Mesoamerica
The long-held consensus that the more populated and “civilized” a society, the more complex their communication may be more nuanced than previously thought. After systematically analyzing written and otherwise recorded evidence of shared information in prehispanic Mesoamerica over 3,000 years, two archaeologists say governance appears to be a more influential factor than society size in determining the...
Study Shows Discrepancy in ‘Hookup Culture’ Sexual Activity on Dates
A new study from the University of Kansas shows that in “hookup culture,” — in which young people may engage in sex without the traditional courtship practice of dating – there is a discrepancy between what college students are saying and what they are doing when it comes to sexual activity on dates. KU scholars...
Sidney Poitier – Hollywood’s First Black Leading Man Reflected the Civil Rights Movement on Screen
In the summer of 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. introduced the keynote speaker for the 10th-anniversary convention banquet of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Their guest, he said, was his “soul brother.” “He has carved for himself an imperishable niche in the annals of our nation’s history,” King told the audience of 2,000 delegates. “I...
Hip Hop Song Linked to a Reduction in Suicides in the U.S.
Wide scale public attention to the song “1-800-273-8255” by American hip hop artist Logic was associated with an increase in calls to the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and a reduction in suicides, finds a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. The findings demonstrate the protective effect of positive media stories about suicidal thoughts...
Joe Exotic Channels the Spirit of America’s 19th-Century Tiger Kings
“I am never gonna financially recover from this,” grumbles Joe Exotic, the subject of Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary series. Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, blithely utters the line after one of his employees has been brutally mauled by a tiger, making him seem comically indifferent to the man’s suffering. This lack of...
Study Casts Doubt on Theory That Women Aren’t as Competitive as Men
As researchers investigate reasons for America’s persistent gender wage gap, one possible explanation that has emerged in roughly the last decade is that women may be less competitive than men, and are therefore passed over for higher-ranking roles with larger salaries. But a new study suggests that it’s likely not that simple. Researchers found that...
Cromwell Struggled to Control Closure of the Monasteries as His Government Lost Its Grip During Dissolution, New Book Shows
Thomas Cromwell struggled to keep control of the closure of the monasteries and his government lost its grip during dissolution, a new book shows. The chief minister – prominent in novels by Hilary Mantel – is seen as a political mastermind, but his handling of the closure of priories and abbeys was chaotic, the research...
Women Are More Reluctant Than Men to Ask for Deadline Extensions
Women are less likely than men to ask for more time to complete projects with adjustable deadlines at work or school, new research finds. Compared to men, women were more concerned that they would be burdening others by asking for an extension, and that they would be seen as incompetent, the study showed. Prior research...