Keepers of the Old Ways
Eliot Stein on the people keeping cultural traditions alive
By Stephanie Bastek Friday, January 17, 2025
“The Purse-Seine” by Robinson Jeffers
Poems read aloud, beautifully
By Amanda Holmes Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Island Royalty
A new biography of a Caribbean revolutionary
By Madison Smartt Bell Monday, January 13, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut
The Writer in the Family
The fiction of E. L. Doctorow gave a young man hope of connecting his father and his literary hero
By Jonathan Liebson Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The Weight of a Stone
Searching for stability in an erratic world led Oliver Sacks and other writers to the realms of geology
By Megan Craig Thursday, January 2, 2025
A Turn to the Dark Side
Reckoning with 9/11, the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and most recently the Covid-19 pandemic has compelled
historians to rethink the Civil War and its aftermath
By Drew Gilpin Faust Monday, September 11, 2023
Allergen Alert
When the back-to-school shopping list includes an EpiPen
By Sandra Beasley Monday, September 11, 2023
Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in Changing World by Theresa MacPhail
This Is Not the Zombie Apocalypse
Is a new form of methamphetamine really to blame for a host of urban problems?
By Jessica Gregg Friday, September 8, 2023
Shostakovich in South Dakota
A manifesto for the future of American classical music
By Joseph Horowitz Thursday, September 7, 2023
Queen of the Castle
Looking for Mama Lou, the legendary singer whose work helped inspire American ragtime
By Eric McHenry Wednesday, September 6, 2023
“How to Remember Heat” by Michelle Murphy
Poems read aloud, beautifully
By Amanda Holmes Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The Grinberg Affair
One of Mexico’s most curious missing-persons cases involves a scientist who dabbled in the mystical arts