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
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
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
In the Mushroom
True foraging isn’t the domain of the weekend warrior; it’s serious, serious business
By Michael Autrey Monday, December 2, 2024
The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend
How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths
By Janna Malamud Smith Monday, December 2, 2024
Granaries of Language
Dictionaries are far more than alphabetized collections of words
By Ilan Stavans Monday, December 2, 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
Washing Feet in Dolpo
On a medical mission at the top of the world, finding a healing dose of cheerful stoicism
By William deBuys Monday, June 7, 2021
Rewilding Our Minds
Why nature is so necessary during the pandemic—and how we repay the debt
By Lucy Jones Wednesday, June 2, 2021
The Power of Restraint
We must find a better way to commemorate 9/11
By Andrew Levy Monday, May 31, 2021
The Birth of Black Power
Stokely Carmichael and the speech that changed the course of the civil rights movement
By Sally Greene Monday, April 26, 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
Natural Magic
Modern medicine’s roots in alchemy, astronomy, and the apothecary shop
By Ellen Wayland-Smith Friday, March 5, 2021
Unsentimental Education
Mary Ware Dennett’s quest to make contraception—and knowledge about sex—available to all
By Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow Thursday, March 4, 2021
The China Model
Its economic success and rejection of democratic values have engaged leaders across the globe
By Shakhar Rahav Monday, March 1, 2021
Putin’s Potemkin Paradise
The troubling appeal of Russia’s blend of political repression and bourgeois comfort
By Graeme Wood Monday, March 1, 2021
