Stephanie Bastek

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

The Man Who Changed the Face of Spring

How an English eccentric saved Japan’s cherry blossoms—and spread them around the world

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 29, 2019

White Like Me

How a photograph of a young girl transformed a movement

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 22, 2019

A Woman’s Place

White female slave owners in the South were just as deeply invested in the institution as their male counterparts

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 15, 2019

The Backdoor to Equality

Alternative arguments for fair treatment

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 8, 2019

A Different Sort of Superhero

Black Panther reminds us of comic book protagonists outside the mainstream

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 1, 2019

The Gray Edges of Blackness

Emily Bernard’s essays explore her own experience of race in America

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 22, 2019

Postcolonial Punchlines

Alain Mabanckou on what a joke can do

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 15, 2019

Heroin’s Long History

What our historical fascination with opium can tell us about the present

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 8, 2019

Searching for the Spirit of Acid House

Has electronic dance music lost its soul?

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 1, 2019

The Microscopic House Guest

Coming to terms with the abundance of life in our homes

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 7, 2018

Keepers of the Old Ways

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday January 17, 2025

The Snow Maiden

By Stephanie Bastek | Monday December 30, 2024

Ho Ho Horror

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 27, 2024

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

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