Stephanie Bastek

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

Santa’s Slay Bells

Kier-La Janisse on holiday slashers and other ghost tales for Christmas

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 23, 2022

By Land and By Sea

Dorthe Nors brings us to the North Sea Coast

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 16, 2022

Girl Troubles

Michelle Gallen talks about her new novel, Ireland in the 1990s, and finding your way in a bombed-out town

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 9, 2022

The Forgotten Radical

Lydia Moland on the children’s writer who had a change of heart

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday December 2, 2022

Roughing It

Ted Conover on life off-grid

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 18, 2022

The Abortion Underground

Laura Kaplan on the vital work of Jane

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 11, 2022

Tulsa 2022

RJ Young on the commemoration—and commercialization—of the massacre’s centenary

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 4, 2022

For the Love of Horror

Joe Vallese collects 25 queer reflections on formative films

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 28, 2022

The Fantasy of Real Life

Ling Ma on telling stories that see our world sideways

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 21, 2022

Welcome to the Osmocosm

Harold McGee explains the science behind a universe of smells

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 14, 2022

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

Ground Truths

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday November 21, 2025

The Dangerous Dead

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 31, 2025

For the Love of Foraging

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 17, 2025

From Sofia to Chicago

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday October 3, 2025

Why the Bronx Burned

By Stephanie Bastek | Friday September 12, 2025

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