Aging Out
Many of us do not go gentle into that good night
By Anne Matthews Thursday, December 5, 2024
Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age by James Chappel
Divided Providence
Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War
By Robert Wilson Monday, December 2, 2024
Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Union by Richard Carwardine
Ideology as Anatomy
How shifting ideas about women’s bodies have affected their lives
By Sierra Bellows Monday, December 2, 2024
Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Parts by Helen King
The Creator’s Code
Are humans alone in their ability to make art?
By Evelyn McDonnell Monday, December 2, 2024
The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines From Automata to AI by David Hajdu
Barbarity at the Bataclan
A chilling account of darkness in the City of Light
By Charles Trueheart Monday, December 2, 2024
V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère, translated from the French by John Lambert
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
Taking Shots
A powerful plea for vaccination
By Harriet A. Washington Monday, September 8, 2014
On Immunity: An Inoculation By Eula Biss
Man of the World
Well-traveled and erudite, John Quincy Adams sometimes had trouble appealing to his countrymen
By Annette Gordon-Reed Monday, June 9, 2014
John Quincy Adams: American Visionary By Fred Kaplan
The Skeptic
A critic’s cranky charm
By Steve Lagerfeld Monday, June 9, 2014
A Literary Education and Other Essays By Joseph Epstein
Inside the Box
How we became pod people
By M. G. Lord Monday, June 9, 2014
Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace By Nikil Saval
Numbers Game
The problems of solutions
By Owen Gingerich Monday, June 9, 2014
Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World By Amir Alexander
Dangerous Liaison
A CIA officer’s many faces
By Steven Simon Monday, June 9, 2014
The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames By Kai Bird
We, Not Me
A writer feels our pain
By Gary Greenberg Monday, June 9, 2014
The Empathy Exams By Leslie Jamison
Beyond the Colonies
What else happened during the year of independence?
By Andrew Graybill Monday, June 9, 2014
West of the Revolution By Claudio Saunt
Matters of Perception
Sometimes the truth lies more in what we perceive than what we think
By William Nichols Monday, May 19, 2014
Coming to Our Senses: Perceiving Complexity to Avoid Catastrophes By Vicki McCabe
The Bard of Suburbia
John Updike’s obsession with ordinary life made him the writer by whom we came to know ourselves
By Robert Wilson Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Updike By Adam Begley
