OCT 2017
TV Series 'Top of the Lake: China Girl' Explores the Need for More Diverse Police Departments
Pacific Standard recommends this tense exploration of how a female officer can affect the course and outcome of a case involving another woman.
Producer Stephanie Allain Makes Movies That Truly Reflect the American Populace
We spoke to Stephanie Allain about what she recommends reading, watching, and listening to.
There's a Name for That: Norman Doors
Injuries and deaths from Norman doors are often later chalked up to human error, designer Don Norman says. But the error is not the user's. It's the designer's.
Taking Stock of Thurgood Marshall's Civil Rights Legacy
Pacific Standard recommends Marshall, a new movie about a pivotal character in the civil rights movement.
Field Notes: Selling Dried Fruit in Yemen
Sanaa, Yemen: Despite political unrest during the early months of protest during the Arab Spring, a Yemeni man keeps his shop open, selling nuts and dried fruit.
How to Undrain an Actual Swamp
Why big, boring bureaucracy is the best tool for restoring wetlands around the Bay Area.
Tragedy of the Common
The extinction crisis extends far beyond rare and endangered species.
Mexican Artist Rafa Esparza's Physical Representation of Immigrant Nostalgia
Rafa Esparza's adobe installations serve as a backdrop for the work of others, but they also tell Esparza's own story—and that of his immigrant parents.
Letter From Portland, Oregon: In Search of a Greener Future for the Weed Industry
Will the environmental impact of cannabis balloon as legalization sweeps across the country?
Objects That Matter: Vinyl
A 2016 survey found that 48 percent of record buyers don't actually play their purchases, suggesting that, for many, vinyl is more aesthetic collectible than functional art.
Have Recreational Vehicles Killed the American Dream?
In her new book, journalist Jessica Bruder argues that, in post-2008 America, the nostalgic vision of RVs and other "wheel estate" is incomplete.
Letter From Gansu Province, China: The Strange Business of Subsidized Yak Insurance
In central China's Gansu Province, nomads can buy insurance policies for their sheep and yaks.
The Radical Street Art of Havana's Youth
Their generation is more connected to the outside world than ever, but their art reflects a struggle to see a future in their own country.
Toni Morrison's New Book Explores Society's Tendency to Construct Otherness
Pacific Standard recommends The Origin of Others, which looks to spark discussion about the written word's role in perpetuating and complicating black-and-white binaries.
Field Notes: Patient Care in the Gaza Strip
Gaza City, Gaza Strip: A doctor and nurse stitch a man's finger in Al-Shifa Hospital.
Height Discrimination and Strategies for Social Change
In her new book, lawyer Tanya Osensky argues that constantly monitoring height is a symptom and driver of a pervasive "heightism" that unjustly frames tallness as powerful and shortness as weak.
The History of School Lunches
American school-lunch policy has always been at the mercy of broader ideological trends, from patriotic militarism to corporate neoliberalism.
A New Netflix Documentary Addresses Police Brutality With Personal and Political Force
Pacific Standard recommends Strong Island, more cinematic memoir than true-crime investigation.
Letter From Ventimiglia, Italy: The African Refugees Waiting for Rescue on Italy's Mediterranean Coast
Waiting wasn't a misery the Africans expected on Europe's shore. At least a hundred of the migrants felt so desperate that they tried to swim to France.
Field Notes: A Dust Devil Whirls in Huth, Yemen
Huth, Yemen: In April, children watch a dust devil whip up sand as it travels across the desert landscape near the town of Huth, about 50 miles north of Yemen's capital.
The Cognitive Benefits of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding may not make bright kids brighter, but it apparently does benefit the kids who could most use a boost.
Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life
Journalist Lauren Markham's new book tells the story of twin teenage brothers who migrate from gang-ridden El Salvador to Oakland, California.
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty, Two Generations at a Time
New anti-poverty programs, focused on helping children and parents both, are succeeding where others have failed.
Field Notes: The Burnt Remains of a Government Building in Benghazi
Benghazi, Libya: On the outskirts of the city, a man stands in a government building that was burned by the opposition in February of 2011, at the beginning of a revolution against the 41-year regime of Muammar Gaddafi.