When Ideas Mattered
How “freedom from” became “freedom to”
By Michael Sherry Tuesday, April 20, 2021
THE FREE WORLD: Art and Thought in the Cold War by Louis Menand
Seconds from Midnight
Busting the myth that skilled diplomacy saved the world
By Gregg Herken Friday, April 16, 2021
Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii Plokhy
Swimming the River of Song
How a young scholar demystified the ancient oral tradition
By A. E. Stallings Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry by Robert Kanigel
Surviving the Anthropocene
Can we reverse-engineer our way out of catastrophe?
By Stephen J. Pyne Monday, April 12, 2021
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert
TV’s Founding Mothers
The women who turned the small screen into a cultural phenomenon
By Jayne Ross Monday, April 5, 2021
When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
The celebrated depiction of a miracle is, by its very survival, a miracle in itself
By Meryle Secrest Thursday, March 18, 2021
Plunder: Napoleon’s Theft of Veronese’s Feast by Cynthia Saltzman
Artist of Excess
The man who painted his century’s nightmare
By Sierra Bellows Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Francis Bacon: Revelations by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan
Order Amid Chaos
A poet-scientist considers the imponderables of existence
By Sam Kean Monday, February 15, 2021
Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman
Cultural or Criminal?
How to explain Texas’s hunger for executions
By Lincoln Caplan Monday, February 8, 2021
Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty by Maurice Chammah
Family Secrets
A writer’s personal quest to expose a mass murderer who escaped punishment
By Charles Trueheart Monday, February 1, 2021
The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive by Philippe Sands
Who Would I Be Off My Meds
Can weaning oneself off pharmaceuticals ease the cycle of perpetual suffering?
By Scott Stossel Thursday, March 6, 2025
Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistanceby Laura Delano
Who’s to Say? 
A bewildering take from a noted scholar of Christianity
By Sarah Ruden Monday, March 3, 2025
Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesusby Elaine Pagels
Chapters and Verse
Looking for the poet between the lines
By Jay Parini Monday, March 3, 2025
Love and Need: The Life of Robert Frost’s Poetryby Adam Plunkett
Once More, Without Feeling
Can a memoir be effective when it lacks any warmth?
By Casey Schwartz Monday, March 3, 2025
Children of Radium: A Buried Inheritanceby Joe Dunthorne
Electrons That Bind
The molecule at the center of everything
By Priscilla Long Monday, March 3, 2025
Carbon: The Book of Lifeby Paul Hawken
Food for Thought
A pragmatic approach to one of humanity’s gravest threats
By Anne Matthews Monday, March 3, 2025
How to Feed the World: The History and Future of Foodby Vaclav Smil
Splitting Our Sides
A new biography of a comedy pioneer
By Stephen Macone Monday, March 3, 2025
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Liveby Susan Morrison
In the Lions’ Studio
A new dual biography turns the lens on the towering architects of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
By Noah Isenberg Thursday, February 13, 2025
Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: The Whole Equationby Kenneth Turan
Divided Providence
Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War
By Robert Wilson Thursday, January 23, 2025
Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Unionby Richard Carwardine
