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
St. Augustine and the Hall of Memory
Like the philosopher, my aunt kept house in her imagination, tending to the sensations and images of the past
By Greta Austin Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Witch Temple of Mehandipur
To an Indian town the possessed come in droves, their families desperate to be rid of the evil that curses them
By Edward Hower Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Dubya and Me
Over the course of a quarter-century, a journalist witnessed the transformation of George W. Bush
By Walt Harrington Thursday, August 25, 2011
LBJ’s Wild Ride
Hanging on for dear life during the 1960 campaign
By Ernest B. Furgurson Thursday, August 25, 2011
Secret Sharers
In an age of leaks, forgeries, and Internet hoaxes, archivists must guard our information while keeping hackers at bay
By Elena S. Danielson Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Psychologist
Vladimir Nabokov’s understanding of human nature anticipated the advances in psychology since his day
By Brian Boyd Thursday, August 25, 2011
Scar Tissue
When I was stabbed 17 years ago in a New Haven coffee shop, the wounds did not only come from the knife
By Emily Bernard Thursday, August 25, 2011
A Mother’s Secret
The images in a treasured photo album preserve an idealized past, while leaving out the painful story of a family torn apart by the Holocaust
By Werner Gundersheimer Thursday, August 25, 2011
Out in the West
The Mormon Church is going mainstream—and leaving its gay members behind
By Jennifer Sinor Thursday, August 25, 2011
Flacking for Big Pharma
Drugmakers don’t just compromise doctors; they also undermine top medical journals and skew medical research
By Harriet A. Washington Friday, June 3, 2011
