Stephanie Bastek

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

Listening to the Dead

Alexa Hagerty on how forensic anthropology exhumes crimes against humanity

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday April 21, 2023

That Time of the Month

Kate Clancy takes the mystery out of menstruation

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday April 14, 2023

Twenty Years of War

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad on the invasion of Iraq and the turmoil that followed in his homeland

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday April 7, 2023

The Art of Doing Nothing Much, Together

Sheila Liming on the importance of chillaxing

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 31, 2023

Cherry Blossom Bonanza

Naoko Abe on how an English eccentric saved Japan’s beloved cherry trees—and spread them around the world

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 24, 2023

Filling in the Fragments

Diane Rayor on translating the poetry of Sappho

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 17, 2023

Reading the Trail Trees

Alexander Nemerov on his efforts to resurrect the spirits of our lost woods

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 10, 2023

Chaucer’s Leading Lady

Marion Turner on our enduring fascination with the Wife of Bath

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 3, 2023

The Comic Queen of Metafiction

Gunnhild Øyehaug talks about her twisted new collection of short stories

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 24, 2023

Justice, Arrested

Joanna Schwartz on the difficulty of holding the police accountable

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 17, 2023

For Better or for Wurst

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday May 15, 2026

Safe From Sin

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday April 17, 2026

Hue and Cry

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday April 3, 2026

Shotgun Ornithology

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 20, 2026

Eulogy for a Yenta

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday March 6, 2026

The Carnifex of Cachtice

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday February 20, 2026

The Snow Maiden

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday January 2, 2026

The Midwife of Black Nationalism

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 12, 2025

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