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 Live by 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
The Patron Subjects
Who were the Wertheimers, the family that sat for a dozen of John Singer Sargent’s paintings?
By Jean Strouse Thursday, November 14, 2024
Heart of Semi-Darkness
A writer’s delectable quest for rare flavors
By Tim Carman Thursday, November 7, 2024
Reborn in the City of Light
At a time when Paris was an incubator of modernism, a group of bold American women arrived to make art out of their lives
By Rosanna Warren Thursday, October 24, 2024
Thoreau’s Pencils
How might a newly discovered
connection to slavery change
our understanding of an abolitionist
hero and his writing?
By Augustine Sedgewick Thursday, October 17, 2024
Look Out!
Why did it take so long to protect
spectators of America’s favorite pastime?
By Debra Spark Friday, October 11, 2024
A Giant of a Man
The legacy of Willie Mays and the Birmingham ballpark where he first made his mark
By Eric Wills Thursday, October 10, 2024
Adventures With Jean
Striking up a friendship with an older writer meant accepting the risk of getting hurt
By Craig Nova Thursday, October 3, 2024
A Poet of the Soil
The legacy of a writer who struggled with his celebrity