Blood—and Beauty—at the Root
Fifty years ago, Alex Haley’s landmark novel changed the way many Americans thought about race
By Brandon Tensley Monday, June 15, 2026
Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World by Lucas L. Johnson II
In Defense of Difficult Reading
The tomes of the past cultivate the lost art of sustained attention
By Todd Shy Friday, June 5, 2026
What’s So Great About the Great Books?: Why You Should Read Classic Literature (Even Though It Might Destroy You) Naomi Kanakia
Inside Man
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite
By Anne Matthews Monday, June 1, 2026
How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University By Theo Baker
Things Fall Apart
A meditation on entropy, obsolescence, and death
By Steven G. Kellman Monday, June 1, 2026
How We Disappear: A Personal History of Information By Thomas S. Mullaney
Into the Wilds
The tangled terrain of untrammeled lands
By Miranda Weiss Monday, June 1, 2026
The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness By Cal Flyn
The Painter Time Forgot
An overdue reckoning of an artist’s volcanic genius
By Rebecca Bedell Monday, June 1, 2026
Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America and America to the World By Victoria Johnson
Where Are We?
Finding our bearings has never been so risky
By Peter Turchi Monday, June 1, 2026
Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World By Katherine Dunn
Canonical Contempt
Even in the 18th century, Edward Gibbon’s misogyny set him apart
By Michael O'Donnell Monday, June 1, 2026
The Conversions of Edward Gibbon: A Modern Biography By Martha Saxton
Books Are a Star’s Best Friend
The little-known reading habits of a Hollywood icon
By Noah Isenberg Thursday, May 28, 2026
Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe by Gail Crowther
Who Is Thinking?
The quest to discover the answer to an age-old question
By T. M. Luhrmann Thursday, May 7, 2026
A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness By Michael Pollan
A Portrait of the Scholar
The life of Ireland’s towering literary figure became a work of art in its own right
By Michael O'Donnell Thursday, June 19, 2025
Ellmann’s Joyce: The Biography of a Masterpiece and Its Makerby Zachary Leader
The Unjolly Green Giant
How C. F. Seabrook became the Lear of the vegetable fields
By Anne Matthews Monday, June 9, 2025
The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynastyby John Seabrook
The Rascal of Pont-Aven
Reassessing a renowned painter’s troubling life
By Hannah Stamler Monday, June 2, 2025
Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguinby Sue Prideaux
Unbuilding the Mystery
What might Indigenous spiritual practices have in common?
By Ilan Stavans Monday, June 2, 2025
Shamanism: The Timeless Religionby Manvir Singh
Farmed Out
The uncertain future of the nation’s heartland
By Donald Worster Monday, June 2, 2025
Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairieby Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty
An Enigma at the Center
The story of the American West in one photograph
By Alix Christie Thursday, May 22, 2025
The Girl in the Middle: A Recovered History of the American Westby Martha S. Sandweiss
Doing Nothing Is Everything
An areligious writer finds peace in a Benedictine monastery
By Costică Brădăţan Thursday, April 10, 2025
Aflame: Learning from Silenceby Pico Iyer
Splitting Our Sides
A new biography of a comedy pioneer
By Stephen Macone Thursday, April 3, 2025
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Liveby Susan Morrison
Song for the Earth
Finding a message for today in the music of Gustav Mahler
By Joseph Horowitz Monday, March 31, 2025
Transcending the Glass Ceiling
Five women who made important contributions to 19th-century American philosophy finally get their due
By Lydia Moland Thursday, March 27, 2025
Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalismby Randall Fuller
