Stephanie Bastek

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

A stylized pink-and-white cat toy waves hello

Aww, Phiwosophy!

When cute gets academic

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday January 14, 2022

Good and Angry

The uses of rage in antiracist struggles

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday January 7, 2022

How to Lose a War

Elizabeth D. Samet on the dangers of perpetual optimism

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 10, 2021

Paleolithic Passions

Charles Foster attempts to live—and think—as humans did 40,000 years ago

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 3, 2021

Spinning a Good Yarn

Once upon a time, Clara Parkes adopted a 676-pound bale of wool and got an inside look at a disappearing industry

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 26, 2021

Nature’s Pharmacy

How ethnobotany blends past and future medicine

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 19, 2021

People of the Parchment

The ordinary lives hidden in medieval manuscripts

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 12, 2021

The Sorceresses’ Amanuensis

Alice Hoffman on the conclusion of the Practical Magic series

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 29, 2021

Bite Club

Why the 17th-century vampire still haunts us today

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 22, 2021

Haunting the Homeland

Germany has all but forgotten the frenzy of witch trials and wonder doctors of the postwar period—but why?

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 15, 2021

Kinship and Contradictions

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 13, 2024

Overconsumed

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 29, 2024

American Horror Story

By Stephanie Bastek | Thursday October 31, 2024

The Writing on the Wall

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 18, 2024

This Woman’s Work

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 4, 2024

Queen of the Night

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 20, 2024

A Toothsome Tale

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 6, 2024

A Rebel to Remember

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 23, 2024

Going for Gold

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday August 9, 2024

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