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
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
Frida and Emily
If you’re dead or fictional, we’re the dating service for you!
By Pamela Petro Thursday, March 18, 2021
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
“Tarantella” by Hilaire Belloc
Poems read aloud, beautifully
By Amanda Holmes Tuesday, March 16, 2021
At a Snail’s Pace
France has handled Covid-19 in a very French way
By Anne Swardson Monday, March 15, 2021
The Baddest Man in Town
On the trail of a historical figure immortalized in African-American folklore
By Eric McHenry Saturday, March 13, 2021
The Annotated “Stacka Lee”
Comments on the famous murder ballad’s oldest known lyrics
By Eric McHenry Saturday, March 13, 2021
Women at War
The fight for a spot on the frontlines (and in the history books)
By Stephanie Bastek Friday, March 12, 2021
Words in Confinement
Lessons on literature and life from inside a notorious Mississippi prison
By W. Ralph Eubanks Thursday, March 11, 2021
