The Universe as Kitchen
Cosmic ovens, nebular refrigerators, and the predictive power of physical law
By Igor Teper Thursday, March 1, 2012
Affirmative Inaction
Opposition to affirmative action has drastically reduced minority enrollment at public universities; private institutions have the power and the responsibility to reverse the trend
By William M. Chace Thursday, December 1, 2011
Big Thinker
The diplomat who argued for “containment”—and lived to regret it
By James Gibney Wednesday, November 30, 2011
George F. Kennan: An American Life By John Lewis Gaddis
The Gravity of Falling
Having hurtled through the American century, we are distracted and confused. But can we find our way again?
By Edward Hoagland Wednesday, November 30, 2011
His Hour Upon the Stage
As a lifelong reader of Shakespeare’s plays, Lincoln had reservations about how they were presented
By Douglas L. Wilson Wednesday, November 30, 2011
St. Augustine and the Hall of Memory
Like the philosopher, my aunt kept house in her imagination, tending to the sensations and images of the past
By Greta Austin Wednesday, November 30, 2011
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 Christopheby 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
Verde
Learning a foreign language isn’t just about improving cognitive function—it can teach us to sense the world anew
By Jesse Lee Kercheval Thursday, December 12, 2024
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 Ageby James Chappel
Under a Spell Everlasting
Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, published a century ago, tells of a world unable to free itself from the cataclysm of war
By Samantha Rose Hill Monday, December 2, 2024
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 Unionby Richard Carwardine
The Fair Fields 
Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil
By Rosanna Warren Monday, December 2, 2024
