Outbreaks and Outcomes
Plagues thrive on more than just pathogens
By Graeme Wood Monday, December 21, 2020
Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Paul Farmer
Figuring Out Our Fourth Estate
Can democracy survive in the absence of agreed-upon facts?
By Scott Stossel Thursday, December 10, 2020
An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee That Redefined Freedom of the Press by Stephen Bates
Earning Our Daily Bread
Did early humans really have it easier than we do?
By Ellen Ruppel Shell Monday, December 7, 2020
Work: A Deep History, From the Stone Age to the Age of Robots by James Suzman
Native Wisdom
A celebration of the rich spiritual imagination of tribal peoples
By Donald Worster Monday, December 7, 2020
Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land by N. Scott Momaday
Power to the People
Looking back on a decade of revolutionary change
By Jason Sokol Monday, December 7, 2020
The Movement: The African American Struggle for Civil Rights by Thomas C. Holt
Redefining Women’s Work
The relief of suffering was one means to a great end
By Danielle Ofri Monday, December 7, 2020
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women—and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura
Market Morality
The divine underpinnings of Western prosperity
By Michael Shermer Monday, December 7, 2020
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by Benjamin M. Friedman
Thought Experiment
Exploring the evolutionary origins of our brains
By Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Monday, December 7, 2020
Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind by Peter Godfrey-Smith
Satirist to the Galaxy
The war behind a writer’s words
By Anne Matthews Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters, 1941–1945 edited by Edith Vonnegut
Indefensible Torture, Unfree Speech
What Censorship Kept America from Learning about the Futility of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”
By Lincoln Caplan Saturday, November 7, 2020
The Black Banners Declassified: How Torture Derailed the War on Terror after 9/11 by Ali Soufan with Daniel Freedman
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