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
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 Monday, December 2, 2024
Granaries of Language
Dictionaries are far more than alphabetized collections of words
By Ilan Stavans Monday, December 2, 2024
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 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
The Next New Thing
In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before
By Witold Rybczynski Thursday, July 4, 2024
Imperfecta
Her brother’s disease leads a writer to challenge how we conceive of human abnormality in the emerging era of gene editing
By Pamela Haag Thursday, June 20, 2024
A Forgotten Turner Classic
Who was George Eyser, the one-legged German-American gymnast who astounded at the Olympic Games?
By Joshua Prager Monday, June 3, 2024
The Given Child
To what lengths would a mother go to ensure her family’s survival in a remote Himalayan village?
By William deBuys Monday, June 3, 2024
Red Tide Warning
Living on Florida’s Gulf Coast means having to coexist with pervasive and toxic algal blooms—and neighbors who don’t always believe what they see
By Lenore Myka Thursday, May 16, 2024
Tramping With Virginia
A seminal essay about walking the streets of London can present challenges in the classrooms of today
By Emily Fox Gordon Thursday, May 9, 2024
The Redoubtable Bull Shark
Reflecting on one of nature’s most dangerous predators
By John Gifford Thursday, May 2, 2024
My Name Is Emily
What we call ourselves—and what
others call us—can be both a burden and a gift
By Emily Bernard Thursday, March 28, 2024
Strength and Conditioning
Whether teaching history in the segregated South or winning Super Bowls as an NFL coach, Johnny Parker has encouraged his charges to strive for a certain kind of greatness
By Steve Yarbrough Friday, March 15, 2024
The Dragon Amid the Tigers
Ever since a weeks-long war in 1962, the influence of Chinese culture on the lives of many Indians hasn’t always been so evident
By Amitav Ghosh Thursday, March 7, 2024
