Stephanie Bastek

Stephanie Bastek is the senior editor of the Scholar and the producer/host of the Smarty Pants podcast.

Women Are Evil

Eleanor Johnson on the 4,000-year-old trail of the demoness Lamashtu

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 30, 2026

For Peat’s Sake

Merritt Turetsky on the secret life (and death) of bogs

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 16, 2026

Dawn of the Brain-Dead

Carl Elliott on the ethical implications of going beyond organ transplantation

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 2, 2026

The Extreme Path

Andrew Rankin on Japan’s infamous underworld

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 18, 2026

Call It Macaroni

Susan Stryker on her new book, Changing Gender

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 4, 2026

Blades of Grass

Christopher Kondrich on his poems of climatic catastrophe

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 21, 2026

The Translator Stuck

Amanda L. Andrei on her relationship with the Romanian language and her Romanian father

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 7, 2026

Riot Girls

Jessica Hopper shines a spotlight on the too-often-overlooked women of rock history

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday July 24, 2026

To the Manor Born

Adrian Tinniswood dissects the myth of the deteriorating British estate

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday July 10, 2026

The Industrial Revolution of Bees

Jennie Durant on the vicious cycle involving beekeepers and almond farms

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday June 26, 2026

Women Are Evil

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 30, 2026

For Peat’s Sake

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 16, 2026

Dawn of the Brain-Dead

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 2, 2026

The Extreme Path

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 18, 2026

Call It Macaroni

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 4, 2026

Blades of Grass

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 21, 2026

The Translator Stuck

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 7, 2026

Riot Girls

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday July 24, 2026

To the Manor Born

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday July 10, 2026

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