Hidden Truths
A new portrait of one of the 20th century’s most controversial philosophers
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, August 13, 2026
Hannah Arendt: A Life of the Mind By Thomas Meyer (tr. Shelley Frisch)
Bending Toward Justice
Rejecting the “race riot” myth means facing the ugly truth
By Sally Greene Thursday, July 16, 2026
They Stole a City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live With Its Legacy by Lauren Collins
Verse From the Abyss
How a Jewish poet rebuilt his mother tongue in the wake of the Holocaust
By Piotr Florczyk Thursday, July 9, 2026
Paul Celan: A Life by Anna Arno, translated by Soren Gauger
Where Are We?
Finding our bearings has never been so risky
By Peter Turchi Monday, June 29, 2026
Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World By Katherine Dunn
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
Swept Away
When Géricault painted The Raft of the Medusa, he immersed himself in his subject’s horrors
By Anthony Brandt Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Wreck of the Medusa By Jonathan Miles
Nurtural Intelligence
The discoverer of the Flynn effect claims that genes control IQ less than you’d expect
By Richard Restak Saturday, September 1, 2007
What Is Intelligence? Beyond the Flynn Effect By James R. Flynn
Words and Music
Two ways of thinking about what our brains can do
By Jennifer Michael Hecht Saturday, September 1, 2007
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human NatureBy Steven Pinker /Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain By Oliver Sacks
The Whirling Princess
How a little rich girl known as Pussy Jones became Edith Wharton, writing her way into the aristocracy of American letters
By Sandra M. Gilbert Friday, June 1, 2007
Edith Wharton By Hermione Lee, Alfred A. Knopf
The Heroic and the Crass
Case studies in American presidential backbone
By Gary Hart Friday, June 1, 2007
Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989 By Michael Beschloss, Simon & Schuster
Wide World
An essayist and activist who makes eloquent connections
By Sarah Fay Friday, June 1, 2007
Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics By Rebecca Solnit
The Meandering Naturalist
By William Howarth Friday, June 1, 2007
A Wanderer All My Days: John Muir in New England By J. Parker Huber
Magical Mind
Albert Einstein’s life
By Stephen Petranek Friday, June 1, 2007
EINSTEIN: His Life and Universe By Walter Isaacson
Dismantling the Dream
By Sandra Beasley Friday, June 1, 2007
The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All America By Daniel Brook, Henry Holt
Happy Talk
What did we know about joy, and when did we know it?
