Hold the Salt
Reconsidering an ancient city’s bad reputation
By Charles G. Salas Friday, January 23, 2026
Carthage: A New History by Eve MacDonald
Scientists in Dreamland
What might our nightly visions mean?
By Alice Vernon Thursday, January 15, 2026
Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer's Guide Through the Sleeping Mind by Michelle Carr
Conjurer of Worlds
The writer who made fantasy history
By Michael O'Donnell Monday, December 1, 2025
The Tower and the Ruin: J. R. R. Tolkien's Creation by Michael D. C. Drout
The Minotaur’s Muses
The romantic cruelty of a brilliant artist
By Anne Matthews Monday, December 1, 2025
Hidden Portraits: Six Women Who Shaped Picasso's Life by Sue Roe
Compassionate Curmudgeon
Why we must root ourselves in the real world
By Robert Zaretsky Monday, December 1, 2025
Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist by David Bather Woods
Swept Away
A gusty tour of one of our planet’s primordial forces
By Juli Berwald Monday, December 1, 2025
The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind by Simon Winchester
Making Trouble
A British aristocrat’s leftist noblesse oblige
By Charles Trueheart Monday, December 1, 2025
Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford by Carla Kaplan
All His Biographers Merely Players
Retracing the Bard’s lost years
By Rachel Shteir Monday, December 1, 2025
The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the Making of William Shakespeare by Daniel Swift
Playwright, Poet, Outsider, Spy
The Wayward Scholar of the London Stage
By Steven G. Kellman Friday, November 14, 2025
A Stranger Everywhere
The inner world of one of America’s great warrior poets
By Nicholas Buccola Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Baldwin: A Love Story Nicholas Boggs
The Lovable Leviathan
Whales hold a special place in our imagination, but their situation is dire
By Sy Montgomery Monday, March 1, 2010
The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea By Philip Hoare
A Long, Cold Road to Paris
The 2,000-mile, 40-day journey of future first lady Louisa Catherine Adams
By Paul C. Nagel Monday, March 1, 2010
Mrs. Adams in Winter: A Journey in the Last Days of Napoleon By Michael O’Brien
The Debacle Before the Disaster
At Dien Bien Phu, the French got a lesson the U.S. would take two decades to learn
By Charles Trueheart Monday, March 1, 2010
Valley of Death: The Tragedy of Dien Bien Phu That Led America into the Vietnam War By Ted Morgan
In the Shadow of Genocide
Impressions of a Turkish town that was once in Armenia
By Graeme Wood Monday, March 1, 2010
Rebel Land: Unravelling the Riddle of History in a Turkish Town By Christopher de Bellaigue
Science Doubters
When healthy skepticism turns into unhealthy antagonism
By Natalie Angier Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms The Planet, and Threatens Our Lives By Michael Spector
Laissez-Faire Run Amok
The extremist, and enduring, philosophy of Ayn Rand
By Ethan Fishman Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right By Jennifer Burns
Riffs and Raptures
Zadie Smith’s essays offer crisp prose and hard-won insights
By Sarah L. Courteau Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays By Zadie Smith
Wrestling the Moose
Jefferson debunked a French theory of natural history, launching American exceptionalism
By Miranda Weiss Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America By Lee Alan Dugatkin
The Tales Buildings Tell
Architects can overwhelm their creations; time can make a hash of great visions
By Stanley Abercrombie Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories By Edward Hollis
Through Fire and Flood
Faulkner’s best fiction emerged from his willingness to face crises
By Jay Parini Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Becoming Faulkner: The Art and Life of William Faulkner By Philip Weinstein
