Heart of Semi-Darkness
A writer’s delectable quest for rare flavors
By Tim Carman Thursday, November 7, 2024
Masters of Horror and Magic
The German folklorists who helped build a nation
By Anne Matthews Friday, November 1, 2024
For Want of Touch
The astonishing breadth of our passions
By Diana Goetsch Thursday, September 26, 2024
Imperiled Planet
The ecological havoc we’ve wrought
By Priscilla Long Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Burning Earth: A History by Sunil Amrith
Ground Truth
A story of dirt, dollars, and death
By Steve Yarbrough Tuesday, September 3, 2024
The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson
Insisting on the Positive
A popular historian’s philosophical musings
By Carlin Romano Tuesday, September 3, 2024
On Freedom by Timothy Snyder
A Stranger in the Seven Hills
A refugee’s experience in the Eternal City
By Ingrid D. Rowland Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Roman Year: A Memoir by André Aciman
Mortal Coils
We aren’t alone in facing the inevitable
By Sy Montgomery Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death by Susana Monsó
Silent Partner
The union that may have made possible a writer’s late flourishing
By Robert Zaretsky Tuesday, September 3, 2024
A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson by Camille Peri
Schmaltz of Significance
How the first talkie treated the myth of the melting pot
By Steven G. Kellman Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Only in America: Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer by Richard Bernstein
What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
The celebrated depiction of a miracle is, by its very survival, a miracle in itself
By Meryle Secrest Thursday, March 18, 2021
Plunder: Napoleon’s Theft of Veronese’s Feastby Cynthia Saltzman
Artist of Excess
The man who painted his century’s nightmare
By Sierra Bellows Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Francis Bacon: Revelationsby Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan
Order Amid Chaos
A poet-scientist considers the imponderables of existence
By Sam Kean Monday, February 15, 2021
Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman
Cultural or Criminal?
How to explain Texas’s hunger for executions
By Lincoln Caplan Monday, February 8, 2021
Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty by Maurice Chammah
Family Secrets
A writer’s personal quest to expose a mass murderer who escaped punishment
By Charles Trueheart Monday, February 1, 2021
The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive by Philippe Sands
Outbreaks and Outcomes
Plagues thrive on more than just pathogens
By Graeme Wood Monday, December 21, 2020
Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of Historyby Paul Farmer
Figuring Out Our Fourth Estate
Can democracy survive in the absence of agreed-upon facts?
By Scott Stossel Thursday, December 10, 2020
An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee That Redefined Freedom of the Pressby Stephen Bates
Earning Our Daily Bread
Did early humans really have it easier than we do?
By Ellen Ruppel Shell Monday, December 7, 2020
Work: A Deep History, From the Stone Age to the Age of Robotsby James Suzman
Native Wisdom
A celebration of the rich spiritual imagination of tribal peoples
By Donald Worster Monday, December 7, 2020
Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Landby N. Scott Momaday
Power to the People
Looking back on a decade of revolutionary change
By Jason Sokol Monday, December 7, 2020
The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rightsby Thomas C. Holt
