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
Redefining Women’s Work
The relief of suffering was one means to a great end
By Danielle Ofri Monday, December 7, 2020
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women—and Women to Medicineby Janice P. Nimura
Market Morality
The divine underpinnings of Western prosperity
By Michael Shermer Monday, December 7, 2020
Religion and the Rise of Capitalismby Benjamin M. Friedman
Thought Experiment
Exploring the evolutionary origins of our brains
By Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Monday, December 7, 2020
Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mindby Peter Godfrey-Smith
Satirist to the Galaxy
The war behind a writer’s words
By Anne Matthews Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941–1945edited by Edith Vonnegut
Indefensible Torture, Unfree Speech
What Censorship Kept America from Learning about the Futility of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”
By Lincoln Caplan Saturday, November 7, 2020
The Black Banners Declassified: How Torture Derailed the War on Terror after 9/11 by Ali Soufan with Daniel Freedman
Black America’s Tough-Minded Truth Teller
How an autobiography shaped the image of a civil rights icon
By Robert J. Norrell Monday, October 26, 2020
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
A Pioneering Appetite
The story of America’s first culinary celebrity
By Anne Matthews Monday, October 19, 2020
The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James BeardJohn Birdsall
Verifiable Truths
The thinkers who tried to strip metaphysics from philosophy
By Gary Saul Morson Thursday, October 15, 2020
The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna CircleDavid Edmonds
Saved By Accident
Only dumb luck has stood in the way of atomic annihilation
By Marc Ambinder Thursday, October 8, 2020
Gambling With Armageddonby Martin J. Sherwin
Sonic Geographer
The composer whose music bears witness to a planet in peril
By Sudip Bose Monday, October 5, 2020
