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
God, Can You Hear Me?
Many young evangelicals are beginning to question the packaged truths offered in megachurches
By T. M. Luhrmann Monday, January 25, 2021
Information Insecurity
Because a European court doesn’t trust U.S. protections on personal data, transatlantic commerce and national security are at risk
By Fred H. Cate and Rachel D. Dockery Monday, December 7, 2020
Our Revels Now Are Ended
What the pandemic portends for the performing arts in America
By Joseph Horowitz Monday, December 7, 2020
An Atheist’s Lament
Is anyone—even a lifelong nonbeliever—ever truly done with religion?
By Emily Fox Gordon Monday, December 7, 2020
White, Whiteness, Whitewash
The masks we wear in America
By Nancy Isenberg Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Slow Blues
On confronting the wonder and terror of nature
By Tamara Dean Thursday, November 12, 2020
Art After the Plague
How painters through the ages have responded to contagion, pestilence, and deadly epidemics
By Ingrid D. Rowland Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Still Made for You and Me?
Our public lands are under attack as never before by the Trump Administration
By John D. Leshy Monday, September 14, 2020
Teach What You Love
A modest proposal for professors of literature
By Mark Edmundson Friday, September 11, 2020
Race and Public Health
The coronavirus reveals how this country fails to relieve suffering
By Philip Alcabes Saturday, September 5, 2020
