The Impulse to Exclude
Ralph Ellison wrote one great novel and then lived a life that is hard to admire
By Phyllis Rose Thursday, March 1, 2007
Hearsay
From the divinely inspired to the pathological, a history of auditory hallucination
By Richard Restak Thursday, March 1, 2007
Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination By Daniel B. Smith
An Epic in Flux
Gilgamesh, the world’s first great literary work, is still being pieced together
By Sudip Bose Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh By David Damrosch
Design Problem
Does the internal physiology of animals imply a harmony of structure and function?
By Mary Beth Saffo Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Tinkerer’s Accomplice: How Design Emerges from Life Itself By J. Scott Turner
War Weary
If Iraq is not another Vietnam, why do I find myself rereading Dispatches?
By Wendy Smith Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Dispossessed
First we stopped noticing members of the working class, and now we’re convinced they don’t exist
By William Deresiewicz Friday, December 1, 2006
THE SCHOLAR AT 75: An Educated Guess
Who knew that mixing the intelligent and the idiosyncratic would yield a long life for a certain small quarterly?
By Ted Widmer Friday, December 1, 2006
THE SCHOLAR AT 75: Postcards from the Past
Pressing questions and persistent vitality
By Richard E. Nicholls Friday, December 1, 2006
Not Compassionate, Not Conservative
A political traditionalist critiques our pseudo-conservative president
By Ethan Fishman Friday, December 1, 2006
Maximalisma
A professor endeavors to separate treasure from trash—before her children have to do it for her
By Lisa Russ Spaar Friday, May 16, 2025
Learning to Be Social
What might Rousseau teach us about how to live with others?
By Sally J. Scholz Thursday, May 15, 2025
American Carthage
Echoes from the ancient conflicts between Hannibal’s city and Rome continue to reverberate well into the present
By Charles G. Salas Thursday, May 8, 2025
Raspberry Heaven
A yearly back-yard harvest opens a door to the divine
By Garret Keizer Friday, May 2, 2025
A Midsummer Night’s Stream
Can digital performances save America’s nonprofit theaters?
By Wendy Smith Thursday, May 1, 2025
After the Fallout
On jellyfish babies, my father’s pain, and the legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific
By Teri Michele Youmans Thursday, April 24, 2025
In the Matter of the Commas
For the true literary stylist, this seemingly humble punctuation mark is a matter of precision, logic, individuality, and music
By Matthew Zipf Thursday, April 17, 2025
Splitting Our Sides
A new biography of a comedy pioneer
By Stephen Macone Thursday, April 3, 2025
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Liveby Susan Morrison
Mr. Olympia
When the ancient Greeks looked at human muscle, they saw something different than we do
By Michael Joseph Gross Thursday, March 20, 2025
In the Mushroom
True foraging isn’t the domain of the weekend warrior; it’s serious, serious business
By Michael Autrey Thursday, March 13, 2025
