The New War on Birth Control
How the Christian Right is co-opting the women's rights movement to fight contraceptives in Africa.
The Afterlife of Big Ideas in Education Reform
How one high school—mine—explains why we keep making the same mistakes in our education policy.
Cat Fight: Inside the Struggle to Save the Latest Migrants Crossing the U.S-Mexico Border
Jaguars are crossing the border into the United States, causing a stir among scientists, mining interests, and those bent on building a wall.
A Politics of Compassion: An Interview With Van Jones
The author and vocal CNN commentator on Donald Trump, spirit quests, and the Nelson Mandela factor in political activism.
The Origins of the Women's Self-Defense Movement
In her new book, martial artist Wendy Rouse digs into the history of women fighting back.
Jenny Zhang Tackles the Complexity of Asian-American Identity Through Her Fiction
Pacific Standard recommends Sour Heart, a book of short stories exploring race, class, and identity through the voices of young Chinese-American girls growing up in New York City.
Derailing Stereotypes of Masculinity, Queerness, and Gang Violence
In her new book, The Gang's All Queer, Vanessa Panfil offers a detailed and nuanced portrayal of homosexual life among gangs in Ohio.
Musician Jenny Hval on Feminism and the Body as a Political Space
We spoke to the Norwegian musician about what she recommends reading, watching, and listening to.
This Documentary Upends Stereotypes, Profiling Land-Owning Americans and Their Conservation Work
Pacific Standard recommends Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman.
What Makes a Community Cry Witch?
As political instability roils the Central African Republic, neighbors are accusing neighbors of practicing the dark arts.
Concrete's History With Political Unrest
There's a reason concrete is the world's most widely used synthetic material, and it's not because concrete is great to look at.
How Vlogging Sells Women a False Promise of Entrepreneurship Online
Pacific Standard recommends (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, a new book that depicts vlogging as aspirational labor.
A Holocaust Museum Where Talking Is Encouraged
Eva Kor survived Auschwitz and Josef Mengele. Today, she's healing by telling her story.
Racial Segregation and the American Airport
A new book by a German historian looks at the conflicting history of segregation in commercial air travel.
'Star Trek: Discovery' and a More Optimistic Vision of the Future
Pacific Standard recommends the new Star Trek, which will include the television series' first black female lead, its first Asian captain, and the first-ever Star Trek character to be conceived of and announced as gay.
How to Make Friends in Outer Space
When Carl Sagan's team sent two gold-plated records into space in 1977, it wanted to make alien contact. Forty years later, those time capsules are hurtling beyond the reaches of the Solar System, still seeking intelligent life.
Engineering the End of Malaria
Intellectual Ventures has put some of the profits from licensing patents into developing breakthrough health-care technologies that nobody else has been able to pursue.
How to Improve the Primary Process? Make It Less Democratic.
It sounds counterintuitive—and would be a hard sell—but making the way the two major political parties nominate candidates less traditionally democratic could also make it more open to compromise and negotiation.
Postcard From Dresden: What It's Like to Be a Refugee in Germany's Conservative Stronghold
"There is a TV crew here from Texas called Infowars. They are the good ones—they are for Trump. Be nice to them."
Crossing the Border at the Rio Grande Valley
Borders are arbitrary, but they can feel transcendent.
Field Notes: Launching a Rocket at the Spanish Civil Guard
In 2012, miners launched a rocket at Spain's civil guard, which, according to press reports, was attempting to halt protests against the government's decision to reduce coal subsidies.
Field Notes: A Sacrifice for the Afterlife in Indonesia
At a funeral in a remote corner of Indonesia, water buffalo are sacrificed in order to help carry the deceased to the afterlife.
The Omnipresence of Dust in Kathmandu
Each time the electricity powers off in Kathmandu, thousands of diesel generators rumble to life, spewing noxious particulate matter, or PM2.5.
Field Notes: Looking Out Over Matthews Range in Kenya
From a perch in the Matthews Range, members of the Samburu, a tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists, look down at the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy, which they're working to protect from elephant poachers.
Political Deviance Is Still a Luxury Reserved for Male Candidates
Men are allowed to be mavericks, but women are expected to toe the party line.
'Only a Small Percent Actually Ventured Out to Slit Our Collective Throats With Their Votes'
On the nomination of Defense Attorney Larry Krasner for Philadelphia city district attorney.
The Myth Behind Painkilling Lettuce
Some doctors' manuals from the 19th century do list Lactuca virosa as a pain reliever, but there's little evidence that it works.
Smarter Kids Are More Open to Experimentation With Drugs and Alcohol
A study found that 11-year-olds who demonstrated medium or high academic ability were more likely to smoke cannabis at ages 18 to 20.
Stalled Out: How Social Bias Is Segregating America's Bathrooms
Public restrooms are sparking moral panic nationwide, and not for the first time. What, exactly, makes shared bathrooms so ripe for controversy? And what can we do about it?
Does Playing 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' Even Work?
According to a recent research, law enforcement often leverages a powerful psychological susceptibility—the "emotional seesaw effect"—that potentially has widespread application.
Letter From the Editor: Concrete Results
Introducing Pacific Standard's August/September 2017 issue.