Editor's Picks Archives

How to choose the right journal

By Megan Taphouse and Laura Richards
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AI attitudes and behaviour: researcher profiles [interactive]

By Jessamine Hopkins, Tamsin Chamberlain, and Laura Richards
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Speech, AI, and the future of neurology

By Adolfo M. García
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Editor's Picks

A listener’s guide to Sand Rush [playlist]

By Elsa Devienne

Writing Sand Rush forced me to watch some of the worst teen movies ever produced by Hollywood— I’m never getting that one hour of my life spent watching The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) back—but the music associated with California beaches is top notch. Almost all of the songs on the Sand Rush playlist are from a very short period in time, roughly between 1961 and 1965 (not withstanding some obvious throwback songs from the 80’s, 90’s, and beyond), when the Southern California beach culture was on display everywhere, from music album covers to movies and magazine advertisements.

Working together: William Walton and Oxford University Press

By Simon Wright

The British composer Sir William Walton (1902-1983), writer of operas, symphonies, concertos, and instrumental music, enjoyed an exclusive publishing relationship with Oxford University Press from the mid-1920s until his death.

Messy, messy masculinity: The politics of eccentric men in the early United States

By Ben Bascom

For every weirdo one finds while researching the past’s forgotten personalities, there are probably two or three more just a stone’s throw away whom time did not preserve. Ben Bascom (Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States) assembles a collection of once neglected but now deeply curious stories that offer the underside to more popular narratives about the founding of the U.S and what it meant—and means—to be masculine.

Is it democratic to disqualify a popular candidate from the ballot?

By Benjamin A. Schupmann

That a popular candidate could be disqualified from running and removed from the ballot might, at first glance, seem at odds with the very idea of democracy. For that reason, despite his evident role in instigating an insurrection, many Republican senators demurred and chose not to impeach former President Donald J. Trump on 13 January 2021.

How well do you know Shakespeare’s plays? [quiz]

By Catrin Lawrence

Brush up on your Shakespeare with our quiz!

Awkward? We’d better own it

By Alexandra Plakias

We live in a golden age of awkwardness. Or so we’re told, by everyone from The Washington Post to Modern Dog Magazine. But we always have. A 1929 Life Magazine contributor writes, “These are awkward times, and I sympathize with the teashop waitress who approached a customer from behind and said brightly, ‘Anything more sir, I mean madam; I beg your pardon sir.’” What’s new isn’t awkwardness itself, but our upbeat attitude towards it; headlines tell us that post-Covid, “We’re all socially awkward now,” and public health campaigns urge us to “embrace the awkward” and talk openly about issues like mental health.

Living Black in Lakewood: rewriting the history and future of an iconic suburb [Long Read]

By Becky M. Nicolaides

In the annals of American suburban history, Lakewood stands as an icon of the postwar suburb, alongside Levittown, NY, and Park Forest, Ill. Noted not only for its rapid-fire construction—17,500 homes built from 1950-1953—it was also critiqued for its architectural monotony, alarming writers at the time who feared that uniform homes would spit out uniform people. That worry quickly faded when the demography of Lakewood began to change.

Albrecht Dürer and the commercialization of art

By Ulinka Rublack

Dürer´s “Praying Hands” are so iconic, but most people know little or nothing about the painting for which it partly served as a study. Looking at the story of that painting shows us a different Dürer from the arrogant, assured manipulator of new media he is often said to have been. It also opens a new window onto his time and the commercialisation of art

10 things direct reports must do to get the most out of their 1:1 meetings

By Steven G. Rogelberg

1:1s are crucial in promoting positive outcomes in the workplace. It is essential that direct reports have a strategic approach to these meetings to make sure they receive the help they need to grow in their career.

A spotlight on Native American language and religion [podcast]

By Steven Filippi and Rachel Havard

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, the last for 2023, inspired by the themes in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”, and in celebration of National Native American Heritage Month in the United States, we spotlight two aspects of Native American culture that transcend tribe and nation and have been the recent focus of OUP scholars: language and religious beliefs.

Flow of time: reality or illusion?

By Kasia M. Jaszczolt

Real time of space-time is one of the dimensions on which we comprehend and describe reality. Time neither flows, nor flies, or drags on; it doesn’t run out and is not a commodity that can be wasted.

Napoleon’s cinematic empire: a fascination with film

By Elizabeth Duquette

Given his decided penchant for spectacle—he crowned himself emperor, after all—there is no reason to be surprised that Napoleon’s empire soon included the cinema, a medium his visual ubiquity made ripe for conquest. To prepare for our newest Napoleon, it is worth looking back on some of his prior celluloid incarnations, some great and others less so.

Five unexpected things about medical debt

By Luke Messac

100 million Americans hold medical debt which causes people to forgo or be denied necessary medical care. Luke Messac, a historian and physician, looks at five unexpected things about medical debt.

Seven predictions for the biggest management trends in the next few years

By Sophie Shepherd

What do you think will be the next big management trend? We asked Academy of Management Annual Meeting attendees for their predictions.

Understanding Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder [infographic]

By Daphne Simeon and Jeffrey Abugel

Depersonalization is the third most common psychiatric symptom, yet clinicians and lay people still know little about its presentation and treatment. While it can indeed be a symptom accompanying other mental illnesses, it is also a full-blown disorder itself, recognized by every major diagnostic manual.

Infrastructure, public policy, and the Anthropocene [podcast]

By Steven Filippi, Ed Aymer, and Meghan Schaffer

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we discuss the state of human infrastructure in the Anthropocene with a particular focus on how research can best be used to inform public policy. First, we welcomed Patrick Harris, co-editor-in-chief of the new transdisciplinary journal, Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health, to speak about the aims and […]