When Ideas Mattered
How “freedom from” became “freedom to”
By Michael Sherry Tuesday, April 20, 2021
THE FREE WORLD: Art and Thought in the Cold War by Louis Menand
Seconds from Midnight
Busting the myth that skilled diplomacy saved the world
By Gregg Herken Friday, April 16, 2021
Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii Plokhy
Swimming the River of Song
How a young scholar demystified the ancient oral tradition
By A. E. Stallings Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry by Robert Kanigel
Surviving the Anthropocene
Can we reverse-engineer our way out of catastrophe?
By Stephen J. Pyne Monday, April 12, 2021
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert
The Sierra Nevada: Wildfires in the Wilderness
Fire in California has a split personality
By Jeff Wheelwright Monday, March 29, 2021
Jacques Barzun and Friend
What did a distinguished historian, and possibly a great man, see in an unkempt young would-be writer?
By Arthur Krystal Tuesday, March 23, 2021
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: Revelations by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan
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 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
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 Partsby Helen King
