Stephanie Bastek is the senior editor of the Scholar and the producer/host of the Smarty Pants podcast.
Stephanie Bastek
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 03, 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
Past is Present
Marie Arana on how violence, exploitation, and religion have ruled Latin America’s history—and might portend its future
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 10, 2023
The Promised Land of the Pampas
Javier Sinay on the forgotten history of the first Jewish immigrants in Argentina
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 03, 2023
Medieval Madams
Eleanor Janega on the overlooked lives of ordinary women
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 27, 2023
The Sensual Sargent
Paul Fisher on the restless life of an American great
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 20, 2023
Lost in Smog
Darren Byler on translating the fiction of Uyghur writer Perhat Tursun
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 13, 2023
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 09, 2022
The Forgotten Radical
Lydia Moland on the children’s writer who had a change of heart
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 02, 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 04, 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
Fifty Years of Song
Joy Harjo celebrates her life in poetry
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 07, 2022
Ordinary Madness
Kate Summerscale on the fixations and fears that make us human
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 30, 2022
Know Your Earworm
Susan Rogers on figuring out why you love your favorite songs
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 23, 2022
Baba Yaga Comes to America
GennaRose Nethercott on folklore, fiction, and hidden family stories
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 16, 2022
The Butler Did It
Martin Edwards on the history of mystery
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 26, 2022
The Music of the Ancients
Christopher King on his quest to uncover the mysteries of Europe’s most enduring folk songs
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 09, 2022
More Than a Mere Tastemaker
Catherine Wilson brings self-help back to its ancient roots
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 02, 2022
Don’t Forget the Death Workers
Hayley Campbell on the hidden labor after life
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 19, 2022
When Science Is Not the Answer
Sabine Hossenfelder considers the biggest questions in physics and philosophy
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 12, 2022
Mob Music
T. J. English on the surprising relationship between two grand American traditions—jazz and organized crime
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 05, 2022
Strokes of Genius
Jing Tsu on how the Chinese language survived the modern world
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 21, 2022
Ho Ho Horror
Why not make this Christmas a little darker?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 17, 2021
The Promised Land of the Pampas
Javier Sinay on the forgotten history of the first Jewish immigrants in Argentina
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 25, 2022
The Original Influencer
Hilary Hallett on the enduring impact of Hollywood tastemaker Elinor Glyn
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 29, 2022
Take Two Shots and Call Me in the Morning
Camper English on when alcohol was the cure
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 22, 2022
You, Me, and the Deep Blue Sea
Matthew Green explores Britain’s ghost towns and drowned settlements
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 15, 2022
How the Black Creek Lost Their Citizenship
Caleb Gayle on a complicated tale of belonging
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 08, 2022
Free, Legal, On Demand
Tamara Dean on abortion in the 19th century
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 01, 2022
Split City, U.S.A.
April White on the hottest place to untie the knot in 1890s America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 24, 2022
The Joyce of Cooking
Flicka Small on how food is everything in the world of Ulysses
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, June 16, 2022
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Sloane Crosley on her new novel
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 10, 2022
Once Upon a Time in Manchester
Hopwood DePree on the quest to restore his ancestral English seat
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 03, 2022
Bird of America
Jack E. Davis on how we revere and revile the bald eagle
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 27, 2022
Life Is a Highway
Dan Albert on how car culture swallowed America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 20, 2022
Crowdsourced Clairvoyance
Sam Knight on the psychiatrist who tried to predict disaster
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 13, 2022
The Intelligence Gatherers
The secret history of how Imperial Russia kept an eye on its Chinese neighbor
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 06, 2022
New Name for an Old Ceremony
Gregory Smithers on two-spirits in Indigenous American history
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 29, 2022
Indiana Absurd
Tiffany Tsao on translating a beguiling Indonesian short-story collection
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 22, 2022
Portrait as Performance
Meet the Tudor characters that populated Hans Holbein’s world
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 15, 2022
Hashtag Lit
Leah Price on how books were social media all along
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 08, 2022
No Place Is Perfect
Adrian Shirk on the search for American utopia
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 01, 2022
Sakura Fever
How an English eccentric saved Japan’s beloved cherry trees—and spread them around the world
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 18, 2022
The Sound of Science
David George Haskell on the sense biology neglects most
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 11, 2022
Normalized Abortion
Tamara Dean on the surprising parallels between 19th- and 21st-century reproductive health
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 04, 2022
Immortal by Mistake
Anna Della Subin on the modern mortals who stumbled into the pantheon
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 25, 2022
The Frigid Fringe
Bernd Brunner on the icy edge of imagination
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 18, 2022
Ode to Antwerp
Michael Pye on the golden age of the city
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 11, 2022
Changing How America Eats
Mayukh Sen on seven immigrant cookbook writers
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 04, 2022
Murder, He Wrote
John Darnielle on the fiction of true crime
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 28, 2022
Good and Angry
The uses of rage in antiracist struggles
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 07, 2022
How to Lose a War
Elizabeth D. Samet on the dangers of perpetual optimism
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 10, 2021
Paleolithic Passions
Charles Foster attempts to live—and think—as humans did 40,000 years ago
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 03, 2021
Spinning a Good Yarn
Once upon a time, Clara Parkes adopted a 676-pound bale of wool and got an inside look at a disappearing industry
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 26, 2021
Nature’s Pharmacy
How ethnobotany blends past and future medicine
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 19, 2021
People of the Parchment
The ordinary lives hidden in medieval manuscripts
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 12, 2021
American Modernism’s Lost Boy-King
Paul Auster on Stephen Crane
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 05, 2021
The Sorceresses’ Amanuensis
Alice Hoffman on the conclusion of the Practical Magic series
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 29, 2021
Bite Club
Why the 17th-century vampire still haunts us today
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 22, 2021
A Literary Love Letter to Egypt
The story of Cairo’s first modern bookstore
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 08, 2021
Between the Sheets and In the Streets
How should we think about sex?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 24, 2021
Haunting the Homeland
Germany has all but forgotten the frenzy of witch trials and wonder doctors of the postwar period—but why?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 15, 2021
The Late, Great, Country House
Dissecting the myth of the deteriorating British estate
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 01, 2021
Nature on Trial
What happens when creatures break human rules?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 17, 2021
Outsider Physics
A different perspective on the universe
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 03, 2021
Drawing in Young Readers
The alchemy of children’s illustration
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 10, 2021
Skater Boy
What a board and four wheels can teach us about living
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 27, 2021
All the Pretty Horses
What is it about the relationship between girls and their ponies?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 20, 2021
Nature on the Brain
How connecting with the green world makes us healthier
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 06, 2021
Here for the Beer
Exploring ancient ales and fermentation re-creations
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 30, 2021
Positively Sweaty
Why perspiration is the essence of life
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 23, 2021
Skin Deep, Only Deeper
How people have used makeup to define—and defy—their roles in society
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 16, 2021
The Feminine Critique
Jessica Hopper shines a spotlight on the too-often-overlooked women of rock history
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 09, 2021
Shelling Out
What seashells reveal about the future of the ocean—and our own past
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 02, 2021
The Devils’ Books
What the publishing habits of the 20th century’s dictators reveal
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 25, 2021
Listening to the Trees
What the forest can teach us about ourselves
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 18, 2021
Has Electronic Dance Music Lost Its Soul?
From acid house to deadmau5
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 11, 2021
Live, Laugh, Love Ancient Philosophy
Bringing self-help back to its ancient Greek roots
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 11, 2019
Eat, Pray, Love Like an Ancient
Why we should care about Epicurus
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 04, 2021
The Author’s Accomplice
Susan Bernofsky on the art of translation
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 28, 2021
Two Parts Gin, One Part Sin
Going back to the Golden Age of cocktails
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 21, 2021
A Verray, Parfit Gentil Knyght
The first biography of Geoffrey Chaucer in a generation explores the places that inspired the English poet
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 07, 2021
Between Science and Séance
The poltergeist that cemented a ghost hunter’s theory about the psyche
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 30, 2021
The Lingo of LOLcats
How language is humanity’s most spectacular open-source project
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 23, 2021
Caracara, Caw Caw
Meet the smartest bird you’ve never heard of
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 16, 2021
Hope Against the Storm
How American communities contend with rising sea levels
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 09, 2021
Oh, Cruel Stagolee
Why you should never mess with a bad man’s hat
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 02, 2021
The Cherry Blossom Evangelist
How an English eccentric saved Japan’s beloved sakura—and spread them around the world
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 26, 2021
Our One-Click World
Online convenience has blinded us to the growth of a tech underclass
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 19, 2021
Women at War
The fight for a spot on the frontlines (and in the history books)
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 12, 2021
How to Be a Grown-Up
Redefining the traditional markers of adulthood
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 05, 2021
The Many Faces of Aeneas
How Virgil plays with our collective memory
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 26, 2021
Red Star Avant Garde
How contemporary artists made China modern
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 19, 2021
What’s Happening in Myanmar
Understanding the military coup in Myanmar
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 12, 2021
Home Alone, with 200,000 Friends
Coming to terms with the critters we live with
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 05, 2021
All in the Family
How the mob came to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and small towns across America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 29, 2021
Pencil-Pushing Spies
The secret history of how Imperial Russia kept an eye on its Chinese neighbor
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 18, 2020
How a Language Dies
Chronicling the disappearance of a remote Papua New Guinean tongue—and everything else that goes with it
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 28, 2019
Death in Papua New Guinea
Chronicling the disappearance of an entire language—and everything else that goes with it
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 22, 2021
Looking In, Looking Out
Artist Betty Yu turns the camera on her family
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 15, 2021
The Father of Art History
The man behind the great men of the Renaissance
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 08, 2021
A Solstice Send-Off
A Slavic folktale to tell around the holiday fire
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, December 23, 2020
If I Only Had a Brain!
Inside the extraordinary minds of people who feel others’ emotions, hear hallucinations, and get lost in their own homes
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 11, 2020
I Will Not Make Any More Boring Podcasts
What John Baldessari’s conceptual art can teach us about life during the pandemic
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 04, 2020
Sitting Down With Witold Rybczynski
The writer and architect talks chairs
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 27, 2020
Four-Legged Friends
How the horse has carried us through history
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 20, 2020
The Ghosts of Nazi Germany
We’ve all but forgotten the frenzy of witch trials and wonder doctors of the postwar period—but why?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 13, 2020
Berlin Bops
How East German punks tore down the wall that divided them
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 06, 2020
Morbid and Misunderstood
The science and history of books bound in human skin
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 30, 2020
In Search of the Good Death
Examining our changing relationship with the afterlife
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 23, 2020
Quoth the Raven
There’s evermore to ravens than you think
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 09, 2020
Do You Believe in Magic?
A global history of our oldest—and most maligned—practice
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 16, 2020
Meet the Dean of American Cooking
How James Beard cultivated the authentic flavors of our cuisine
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 02, 2020
Who’s the Nerd Now?
How geek culture finally triumphed
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 25, 2020
How to Save Farming From Itself
The “quiet emergency” created by industrial agriculture
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 11, 2020
How Architecture Shapes Our Emotions
Why we shouldn’t give up on how cities make us feel
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 04, 2020
Jeremy Irons Reads T. S. Eliot
The legendary actor on why poetry matters
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 28, 2020
Studying Stones
What rocks reveal about the stories we’ve lost and the stories we tell
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 21, 2020
All the Fish in the Sea
The story of a Senegalese fishing community on the brink
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 14, 2020
Neglected Books Revisited, Part 2
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, July 20, 2015
This Is How an Empire Falls
The discomforting parallels between our current moment and the end of Rome
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 07, 2020
Neglected Books Revisited, Part 1
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, July 08, 2015
I Want to Believe
Hunting down America’s favorite fringe stories, cryptids, and alien encounters
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 31, 2020
The Oldest Living Music in the World
One man’s quest to uncover the mysteries of Europe’s most enduring folk songs
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 24, 2020
Twin Pandemics
A conversation about Covid-19 and racism with Philip Alcabes and Harriet Washington
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 17, 2020
Preaching the Floral Gospel
How the Plant Messiah saves species from the brink of extinction
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 10, 2020
Read Me A Poem, Won’t You?
Behind the scenes of our sister podcast
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 03, 2020
Whale Song
Unlocking the mysteries of the world’s largest mammals with old bones and new technology
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 26, 2020
Founding Falsehoods
Reconsidering how we’ve been telling stories about American history
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 19, 2020
The Antebellum Feminine Mystique
Contrary to fables, white female slave owners in the South were just as deeply invested in the institution as their male counterparts
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 12, 2020
Still Junk Science
How scientific inquiry has been complicit in, or explicitly aligned with, racism and white supremacy
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 05, 2020
Junk Science
How belief in biological racial difference pollutes the world of science, from eugenics to genetics
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 09, 2019
Reading Together, Alone
Books were social media all along
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 29, 2020
Cræft in the Time of Corona
What we make with our hands tell us a lot about ourselves, even in a pandemic
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 22, 2020
Spy Games and Secrets
Matthew Quirk opens the dossier on thriller writing
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 15, 2020
Trouble Brewing
The story of how coffee recalibrated the world
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 08, 2020
Tropical Troublemakers
A new novel explores the true life and crimes of O. Henry
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 01, 2020
The Queen of American Folk Music
Resurrecting the legacy of Odetta, voice of the Civil Rights Movement
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 24, 2020
Here’s to Drinking at Home
Resurrecting a 500-year-old classic on how to partake
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 17, 2020
Dressing for Disaster
What does what we wear say about us?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 10, 2020
A Good Time for Opera
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 03, 2020
Coronavirus vs. the Urban Commons
How can communal endeavors survive a pandemic?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 27, 2020
What Zombie Movies Can Teach Us About Viruses
Dissecting how outbreak narratives infected our worldview
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 20, 2020
Zombies and Plagues and Bombs, Oh My!
How hyperbolic outbreak narratives have infected our worldview—from media to the government
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 23, 2018
How Global Agriculture Grew a Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis was preventable—if only we’d listened to the epidemiologists sounding the alarm
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 13, 2020
All Your Friends Are Listening to This Podcast
How we can combine peer pressure and public policy to make the world a better place
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 06, 2020
Gimme Shelter
How housing became the foremost symbol of inequality, and what we can do about it
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 28, 2020
Past is Present
How violence, exploitation, and religion have ruled Latin America’s history—and might portend its future
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 21, 2020
The Meaning of Minimalism
Going beyond its glossy lifestyle image to the existentialism at its heart
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 14, 2020
The Global Garage Sale
What happens to all the stuff we downsize, declutter, and discard?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 13, 2019
House of Mirrors
Carmen Maria Machado on her meta-memoir of a harrowing relationship
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 06, 2019
Getting Physical
How people experienced their bodies in the Middle Ages
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 22, 2019
A Good Yarn
Once upon a time, a woman adopted a 676-pound bale of wool and got an inside look at a disappearing industry
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 08, 2019
From Black Cabs to Blacklisted
Mike Isaac on how Uber went so wrong
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 25, 2019
Where the Wild Things Are
How a radical conservation effort is transforming a former farm into a verdant, biodiverse landscape—and challenging our ideas about what conservation looks like
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 18, 2019
The Banjo and the Ballot Box
How country music has been used on the campaign trail—and in political office
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 04, 2019
What Makes a Refugee?
A writer explores how displaced people, and adopted countries, should respond to the highest levels of displacement on record
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 27, 2019
Why Has American Classical Music Ignored Its Black Past?
And the immigrant composer who predicted a different future
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 13, 2019
Fashion Kills
How our hunger for more clothes is killing the environment and exploiting workers
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 06, 2019
The Next Menu
What will our dinner tables look like 30 years into the climate crisis?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 30, 2019
One Job Should Be Enough
How workers’ voices were silenced in America—and how they’re fighting back
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 23, 2019
Bloodsuckers
How the mosquito changed human history—for better and for worse
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 16, 2019
A Delicate Elephant Balance
Could human partnership be the secret to saving this Asian giant?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 02, 2019
You Never Step Into the Same Internet Twice
Linguist Gretchen McCulloch on the new rules of language
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 26, 2019
Aida’s Story
What one woman’s life between two countries can teach us about the humanitarian crisis at the border
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 12, 2019
Crimes Against Sexuality
How true crime stories were used to fan the flames of homophobia—and let killers get away with murder
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 21, 2019
Stick Shifts and Safety Belts
How car culture swallowed America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 14, 2019
The Wine-Merchant’s Son’s Tale
The first biography of Geoffrey Chaucer in a generation explores the places that inspired the English poet
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 07, 2019
The Space Between Our Ears
How movement, gesture, and spatial reasoning form the foundation of thoughts
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 17, 2019
Totes Adorbs
A philosopher digs into the subversive meaning of “cuteness”
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 10, 2019
Little Boxes, Big Ideas
Looking to America’s history of experimental suburbs to solve the housing crisis
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 03, 2019
The Ten Commandments of Bible Translation
Robert Alter talks about capturing the art of the original Hebrew
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 19, 2019
“Making Books Is a Countercultural Act”
A glimpse into the inner workings of a polyphonic publishing house
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 26, 2019
Not Ready to Make Nice
Meet Lillian Smith, forgotten southern radical
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 05, 2019
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 08, 2019
A Different Sort of Superhero
Black Panther reminds us of comic book protagonists outside the mainstream
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 01, 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 08, 2019
Searching for the Spirit of Acid House
Has electronic dance music lost its soul?
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 01, 2019
The Snow Maiden
Our final episode of 2018 is a send-off to the solstice
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 21, 2018
The Microscopic House Guest
Coming to terms with the abundance of life in our homes
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 07, 2018
Opera 101
A crash course in how to love one of the most elusive art forms
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 30, 2018
Through a Lens Darkly
A photographer on how we represent conflict
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 16, 2018
Too Much Future
How East German punks tore down the Berlin Wall
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 09, 2018
Bad Blood
Why the 17th-century vampire still haunts us today
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, October 31, 2018
The Future Is Feminist Book Collecting
How women are shaking up the rarefied world of antiquarian books
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 26, 2018
Threepenny Thriller
An 18th-century thief gets a 21st-century update
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 28, 2018
Shifting Sands
We’re almost out of this tiny grain—and we’re only now beginning to pay attention
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 21, 2018
Black Birds of the Tower
There’s evermore to ravens than you think
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 12, 2018
Something Witchy This Way Comes
The social forces at work behind history’s favorite scapegoat
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 05, 2018
Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times
A video teaser for Alan Walker’s new biography
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, September 20, 2018
Weirdo Capital of the West
The fantastical saga of Oklahoma City
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 14, 2018
Smell Ya Later
How 19th-century Americans used their noses to fight for urban change
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 07, 2018
A Road Unforeseen
Read an excerpt from Meredith Tax’s book about the women fighting the Islamic State—and winning
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Women v. ISIS
Feminism in the Syrian desert, microbes everywhere, and one agony aunt
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Long Live the Library
Our favorite public institution provides far more than books
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 24, 2018
Strange Fruit and Stolen Lives
The ugly story of the whitest county in America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 17, 2018
Call of the Wild
How a radical conservation effort has transformed a former farm
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 10, 2018
Making the Most of #MeToo
A second-wave feminist on 21st-century feminism
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 03, 2018
Wonderbrain
Inside the extraordinary minds of people who feel others’ emotions, hear hallucinations, and get lost in their own homes
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 27, 2018
No-No Novel
Resurrecting the legacy of John Okada, the first Japanese-American novelist
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 20, 2018
Get Rich or Die Trying
In the shadow of the Silicon Valley of death
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 04, 2018
Stitching History
What an old quilt can teach us about antebellum America
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, May 11, 2018
An Epirotic Odyssey
One man’s quest to uncover Europe’s oldest surviving folk music
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 01, 2018
Go Tell It on the Mountain
A tribute to our protected wilderness
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 22, 2018
Letter From Underwater
Facing rising sea levels on our own shores
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 15, 2018
Lock Her Up
The decades-long U.S. government plan to imprison “promiscuous” women
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 08, 2018
A Whale of a Show
Unlocking the mysteries of the world’s largest mammals with old bones and new technology
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 29, 2018
Wimbledon Unwound
The surprising sexual politics of tennis
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 06, 2018
Graveyard Clay and The Dirty Dust
Compare two translations of “Cré na Cille,” Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s Irish masterpiece
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, March 16, 2016
When the Chicken Hits the Fan
Bobbie Ann Mason on fiction and character
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 27, 2018
The Floral Gospel
How the Plant Messiah saves species from the brink of extinction
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 20, 2018
Voicing a Legend
Jeremy Irons on reading T. S. Eliot and why poetry matters
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 13, 2018
Go Fish
The story of a Senegalese fishing community on the brink
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 06, 2018
Burmese Daze
How political powers in Myanmar engineered the Rohingya crisis
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 30, 2018
The Killers’ Canon
What the publishing habits of the 20th century’s dictators reveal
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 16, 2018
Top of the Tots
What child prodigies have to tell us about our achievement obsession
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 09, 2018
Renaissance Rumor Mill
The man behind the great men of the Renaissance
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 16, 2018
Reclaiming Craftiness
What the things we make with our hands tell us about ourselves
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 09, 2018
A Revolutionary Change of Heart
How a moving essay on war and suffering sprang from a childhood book
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 02, 2018
Rhapsodies in Blue
Vulgar tongues, cruel etymologies, and a spot of poetry
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 15, 2017
Once and Future Food
Imagining a new world of teas and tastes
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 29, 2017
Back in the USSR
A glimpse inside the house that Stalin built, and Italy’s anti-fascist First Family
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 13, 2017
Witches Never Die
Burial practices around the world, from mummies to dancing skulls, and the history of magic’s bad girls
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 27, 2017
The Three Percent
Literature in translation—including the first fiction ever published in English from Madagascar and Tibet
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, November 10, 2017
Jane Austen and the Making of Desire
On being a Regency fanboy, and America’s weird relationship with sex
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, November 20, 2017
Funny Business
Cullen Murphy on growing up in the golden age of make-believe
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 08, 2017
Brainwaves
A composer and a neuroscientist unravel the story of human creativity
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 15, 2017
CSI: Roman Empire
How climate change and disease might have been the real killers
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 22, 2017
School’s Out for Segregation
How charter schools and other private measures undermine a public good
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 26, 2018
Seeing Red
How the artistic avant-garde made a modern China
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 12, 2018
Scientists and Saints
Women’s roles and rituals under the microscope
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 01, 2017
Lady Pirates and Oceans of Plastic
One very daring journey and the pirate who puts Blackbeard to shame
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, August 11, 2017
What the Nose Knows
Smell detectives, laughing gas, and all the forces we cannot see
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, July 28, 2017
Love Games and First Impressions
How to judge tennis—or a stranger’s face
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, July 13, 2017
From Beer to Eternity
Exploring ancient ales and fermentation re-creations
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, June 27, 2017
From the Horse’s Mouth
True tales of horse historians, mad bombers, and infinite jam jars
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, June 09, 2017
Twin Peaks
Reporting from the world’s highlines and highlands
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, May 16, 2017
The Fox in the Big House
Soviets, poetry, and foxes, oh my!
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, April 20, 2017
Out of the Closet and Into the Courts
How sex met the law, plus the coolest queen in Africa
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, April 07, 2017
All the Rage
Enlightenment, architecture, and a few Irish favorites
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 17, 2017
Unlikely Encounters
Between fact and fiction, poetry and motion, and Milton Friedman and China’s General Secretary
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, March 03, 2017
From Côte d’Ivoire to the California Coast
Plus: Phillip Lopate tells us a secret
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, February 10, 2017
Red: The History of a Color
Read an excerpt from Michel Pastoureau’s new book about the color of love and rage
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Portraits of a Movement
Plus: our new visual arts blog, and a tour of Trump’s conflict of interest
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, January 27, 2017
Mary Roach & a Double Dose of Shakespeare
Listen to the debut episode of our new podcast
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, June 13, 2016
Superheroes Are So Gay!
Dig into the queer politics of American comics
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, June 27, 2016
Reading Lolita in Maximum Security Prison
Plus: underground art beneath Dupont Circle and headless chickens in Chile
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, July 11, 2016
Go West, Young Scholar
Or, how to enjoy a California wine in a national park full of rattlesnakes
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, July 25, 2016
A New Story for Black Americans
Plus: secrets of political conventions and the alchemy of crowdsourced poetry
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 09, 2016
Ku Klux Kounty
Plus, tall tales from Claude Monet and Betty MacDonald
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 07, 2016
High Art and Low Chairs
Plus: a book’s journey from foreign lands to American shelves, and espionage
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, October 21, 2016
Fighting the Zika Virus with John Wayne (and John Aubrey)
Well, not exactly
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, November 07, 2016
The Aftermath
Finding hope in unexpected places: prison, protest, and poetry
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Sounds Like a Revolution
An interview with Madeleine Thien, plus: catching up with Jessica Love on language
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 16, 2016
The Winners of the 2015 Phi Beta Kappa Book Awards
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, October 01, 2015
Scurvy: The Disease of Discovery
Read an excerpt from Jonathan Lamb’s new book about every sailor’s favorite ailment
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, December 16, 2016
Krazy
Read an excerpt from Michael Tisserand’s new biography of George Herriman
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, December 08, 2016
23/7
Read an excerpt from Keramet Reiter’s new book about the rise of solitary confinement
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, November 03, 2016
Ghostland
Read an excerpt from Colin Dickey’s history of America’s most haunted places
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, October 17, 2016
How to Travel Without Seeing
Read an excerpt from Andrés Neuman’s dispatches from Latin America
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, September 26, 2016
Weapons of Math Destruction
Read an excerpt from Cathy O’Neil’s book on how Big Data increases inequality and threatens democracy
by Stephanie Bastek | Friday, September 09, 2016
The Story of Egypt
Read an excerpt from Joann Fletcher’s book about the civilization that shaped the world
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I Contain Multitudes
Read an excerpt from Ed Yong’s new book about the microbes within us
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 09, 2016
Catullus’ Bedspread
Read an excerpt from Daisy Dunn’s new biography of Rome’s most erotic poet
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Engineering Eden
Read an excerpt from Jordan Fisher Smith’s new book about the trial that changed our national parks
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, July 20, 2016
“Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People” and Other Myths
Read an excerpt from Dennis A. Henigan’s updated book about gun control
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Neither Snow Nor Rain
Read an excerpt from Devin Leonard’s eclectic history of the U.S. Postal Service
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, June 27, 2016
The Sting of the Wild
Read an excerpt from Justin O. Schmidt’s new book about venomous bugs
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Good Neighbors
An excerpt from Nancy L. Rosenblum’s new book about everyday American life
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, June 14, 2016
India’s War
An excerpt from Srinath Raghavan’s new book about India in WWII
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, June 08, 2016
America’s Snake
An excerpt from Ted Levin’s new book about the rise and fall of the rattlesnake
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, May 24, 2016
My Life with Wagner
An excerpt from Christian Thielemann’s book about a lifetime of conducting
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, May 17, 2016
The Edge of the Empire
Travel ancient Britannia in this excerpt from Bronwen Riley’s new book
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, May 10, 2016
67 Shots
Read an excerpt from Howard Means’s new history of the Kent State shootings
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Black Hole Blues
Read an excerpt from Janna Levin’s new book about the soundtrack of the universe
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, April 19, 2016
The Jazz of Physics
Read an excerpt from Stephon Alexander’s book about the music of the universe
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, May 03, 2016
A Field Philosopher’s Guide to Fracking
A brief excerpt from Adam Briggle’s new book about fighting Big Oil in Texas
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Hamburgers in Paradise
Read an excerpt from Louise O. Fresco’s new book about the story of food
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Masters of Empire
Read an excerpt from Michael A. McDonnell’s new book about Great Lakes Indians
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Unruly Equality
Read an excerpt from Andrew Cornell’s new history of anarchism
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, January 07, 2016
Philip Sparrow Tells All
Read an excerpt from the lost essays of Samuel Steward
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, January 11, 2016
Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich
Read an excerpt from Mary Frances Berry’s new book about vote buying
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, February 01, 2016
The Profiteers
Read an excerpt from Sally Denton’s book about the world-building Bechtel Corporation
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, March 09, 2016
Almost Home
Read an excerpt from Githa Hariharan’s new collection of travel essays
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The Rarest Bird in the World
Read an excerpt from Vernon R. L. Head’s new memoir about the search for the Nechisar Nightjar
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Mechanical Horse
Read an excerpt from Margaret Guroff’s new history of the bicycle in America
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, April 05, 2016
Nothing Ever Dies
Read an excerpt from Viet Thanh Nguyen’s new book about Vietnam and the memory of war
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The Meaning of the Library
A brief excerpt from a new collection of essays, edited by Alice Crawford
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, August 06, 2015
Strangers Drowning
A brief excerpt from Larissa MacFarquhar’s new book about extreme virtue
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
The Society of Genes
Read an excerpt from Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher’s new book on evolutionary biology
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, January 20, 2016
The Mushroom at the End of the World
An excerpt from Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s new book about life in ecological crisis
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, October 27, 2015
You Could Look It Up
Read an excerpt from Jack Lynch’s new ode to the encyclopedia
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Changing the Subject
An excerpt from Sven Birkerts’s latest book about art in the Internet age
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, October 07, 2015
One Child
Read an excerpt from Sarah Conley’s new book about the morality of having children in our imperiled world
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, December 14, 2015
Latest Readings
A brief excerpt from Clive James’s new collection of essays
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Workshops of Empire
A brief excerpt from Eric Bennett’s new book about creative writing and the Cold War
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, October 13, 2015
South Toward Home
A brief excerpt from a new book by Margaret Eby
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Getting Screwed
Read an excerpt from Alison Bass’s new book on sex workers and the law
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, November 09, 2015
The Firebrand and the First Lady
Read an excerpt from Patricia Bell-Scott’s book about Eleanor Roosevelt and Pauli Murray
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, February 08, 2016
The Invention of Nature
A brief excerpt from Andrea Wulf’s new book about Alexander von Humboldt
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Pedigree
A brief excerpt from Nobel prizewinner Patrick Modiano’s memoir
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Mindware
A brief excerpt from Richard E. Nisbett’s new book
by Stephanie Bastek | Thursday, August 20, 2015
A Strange Business
A brief excerpt from James Hamilton’s new history of art dealership
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, September 14, 2015
Database of Dreams
Read an excerpt from Rebecca Lemov’s new book about the prehistory of Big Data
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, November 24, 2015
The White Road
Read an excerpt from Edmund de Waal’s new book about porcelain
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, November 18, 2015
The Wonder of Wuthering Heights
An interview with Alison Case, author of the novel “Nelly Dean”
by Stephanie Bastek | Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Doomed to Re-Tweet It
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, March 04, 2015
The Phi Beta Kappa Awards Short List
Fifteen books are in the running for three $10,000 awards
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, August 19, 2015
A Victorian Mystery No More
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, September 07, 2015
Ahead of the Curve?
by Stephanie Bastek | Monday, June 08, 2015
Wat Wreck
by Stephanie Bastek | Wednesday, December 10, 2014
THIS WEEK’S ARCHIVE PICK
