Happy Talk
What did we know about joy, and when did we know it?
By Wayne Curtis Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Happiness Myth: Why What We Think Is Right Is WrongBy Jennifer Michael Hecht / Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy By Barbara Ehrenreich
The Impulse to Exclude
Ralph Ellison wrote one great novel and then lived a life that is hard to admire
By Phyllis Rose Thursday, March 1, 2007
Hearsay
From the divinely inspired to the pathological, a history of auditory hallucination
By Richard Restak Thursday, March 1, 2007
Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination By Daniel B. Smith
An Epic in Flux
Gilgamesh, the world’s first great literary work, is still being pieced together
By Sudip Bose Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh By David Damrosch
Design Problem
Does the internal physiology of animals imply a harmony of structure and function?
By Mary Beth Saffo Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Tinkerer’s Accomplice: How Design Emerges from Life Itself By J. Scott Turner
The Historical Present
Robert Fagle’s bold solutions to the problem of Virgil
By A. E. Stallings Friday, December 1, 2006
The Aeneid By Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
Pleasure out of Desperation
Thomas Eakins, yearning for the ideal in a materialistic age
By Brenda Wineapple Friday, December 1, 2006
Portrait: The Life of Thomas Eakins By William S. McFeely
Organized Violence
In the last century, where did warfare end and genocide begin?
By Charles Trueheart Friday, December 1, 2006
The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West By Niall Ferguson
Poised Between the Ancient and the New
By Benjamin Balint Friday, December 1, 2006
Isaac B. Singer: A Life By Florence Noiville
Doing Nothing Is Everything
An areligious writer finds peace in a Benedictine monastery
By Costică Brădăţan Thursday, April 10, 2025
Aflame: Learning from Silenceby Pico Iyer
Splitting Our Sides
A new biography of a comedy pioneer
By Stephen Macone Thursday, April 3, 2025
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Liveby Susan Morrison
Song for the Earth
Finding a message for today in the music of Gustav Mahler
By Joseph Horowitz Monday, March 31, 2025
Transcending the Glass Ceiling
Five women who made important contributions to 19th-century American philosophy finally get their due
By Lydia Moland Thursday, March 27, 2025
Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalismby Randall Fuller
Who Would I Be Off My Meds
Can weaning oneself off pharmaceuticals ease the cycle of perpetual suffering?
By Scott Stossel Thursday, March 6, 2025
Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistanceby Laura Delano
Who’s to Say?
A bewildering take from a noted scholar of Christianity
By Sarah Ruden Monday, March 3, 2025
Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesusby Elaine Pagels
Chapters and Verse
Looking for the poet between the lines
By Jay Parini Monday, March 3, 2025
Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetryby Adam Plunkett
Once More, Without Feeling
Can a memoir be effective when it lacks any warmth?
By Casey Schwartz Monday, March 3, 2025
Children of Radium: A Buried Inheritanceby Joe Dunthorne
Electrons That Bind
The molecule at the center of everything
By Priscilla Long Monday, March 3, 2025
Carbon: The Book of Lifeby Paul Hawken
Food for Thought
A pragmatic approach to one of humanity’s gravest threats