Tuesday
August 20, 2019
Subscribe
Print or Web publication
Picture of a newsstand

Spotlight

Better on Paper

What the success of a small local newspaper can tell us about the future of print

by Walter Nicklin | Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Playing

Asturias Days

Playing

by Clellan Coe | Friday, August 16, 2019
Bloodsuckers

Smarty Pants Podcast

Bloodsuckers

How the mosquito changed human history—for better and for worse

by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 16, 2019
“I Remember” by Stevie Smith

Article

“I Remember” by Stevie Smith

Poems read aloud, beautifully

by Amanda Holmes | Friday, August 16, 2019
The Classical Romantic

Measure by Measure

The Classical Romantic

Remembering Joseph Joachim

by Sudip Bose | Thursday, August 15, 2019
Vicarious Pleasure

View from Rue Saint-Georges

Vicarious Pleasure

The joy of seeing a friend succeed

by Thomas Chatterton Williams | Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Shayna Miller

Portrait of the Artist

Shayna Miller

Meditations in Blue

by Noelani Kirschner | Monday, August 12, 2019
Secret Door

Asturias Days

Secret Door

by Clellan Coe | Friday, August 09, 2019
Junk Science

Smarty Pants Podcast

Junk Science

How belief in biological racial difference pollutes the world of science, from eugenics to genetics

by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 09, 2019
“Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rainer Maria Rilke

Read Me a Poem

“Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rainer Maria Rilke

Poems read aloud, beautifully

by Amanda Holmes | Friday, August 09, 2019
Load more
Smarty Pants Podcast

Newsletter


THIS WEEK’S ARCHIVE PICK

2nd Look

The NASA You Never Hear About

by Isabelle Taft

Fifty years ago, when Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon, the moment represented years of work and technical accomplishment. But it also left NASA struggling with a daunting new challenge: figuring out what to do next. Over the years, it has answered this question in part by highlighting the dizzying array of inventions it has inspired—some 1,500 a year. “Besides rocket science itself, perhaps the biggest thing people fail to understand about the agency is how its work has reverberated throughout the world in ways we experience directly every day,” writes Isabelle Taft. “It’s a mark of the agency’s enduring influence that even if we never make it there, we’re already living in a society forged by outer space.”

Current Issue

Current Issue Cover

“Had NASA kept pace, Elon Musk and others wouldn’t be planning missions to Mars. They’d have moved there already.”—George Musser

Plus: Scott W. Stern on why laws against sex trafficking never work, Caroline Alexander follows in the footsteps of the Iliad, and Karen J. Coates reports from a Cambodia flooded with Chinese investment

A rocket launches into the sky amidst clouds at night.

Cover Story

Our Fate Is in the Stars

Today’s space program still does amazing things, but nothing like Apollo. It’s time to begin again.

by George Musser
A man in a suit with a red tie and sunglasses stands next to two soldiers in U.S. uniform. They are filmed by a third man.

Book Reviews

The Difficult Diplomat

A highly flawed man who brought peace and controversy

by Charles Trueheart
Two women console one another one the footsteps of a church.

Book Reviews

What Makes Us Better

Two books explore whether morality is innate or learned

by Sissela Bok
A group of people dressed in red and black hold protest signs beneath umbrellas. One reads

Article

Sex Workers of the World United

Last year’s SESTA/FOSTA legislation aimed to limit sex trafficking—but it’s just the latest in a long line of policies designed to criminalize the oldest profession

by Scott W. Stern
How to Be a Big-League Critic

Tuning Up

How to Be a Big-League Critic

Helpful hints from a professional

by David Lehman

Shelf Life

A City in Crisis cover

A City in Crisis

By Benjamin J. Pauli

An excerpt from Flint Fights Back by Benjamin J. Pauli
Read more >

Daily Scholar

Noelani Kirschner

Mondays

Portrait of the Artist

An artist describes a work of art

by Noelani Kirschner
David Lehman

Tuesdays

Next Line, Please

David Lehman collaborates with our readers on a poem.

by David Lehman
Thomas Chatterton Williams

Wednesdays

View from Rue Saint-Georges

An American in Paris

by Thomas Chatterton Williams
Sudip Bose

Thursdays

Measure by Measure

Classical music reconsidered

by Sudip Bose
Clellan Coe

Fridays

Asturias Days

An American émigré muses on the language and culture of northern Spain.

by Clellan Coe