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 Maker by 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 Dynasty by 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 Gauguin by Sue Prideaux
Unbuilding the Mystery
What might Indigenous spiritual practices have in common?
By Ilan Stavans Monday, June 2, 2025
Shamanism: The Timeless Religion by 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 Prairie by 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 West by 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 Silence by 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 Live by 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 Transcendentalism by Randall Fuller
Lede-ing Ladies
How female foreign correspondents transformed journalism
By Anne Matthews Monday, March 16, 2026
Starry and Restless: Three Women Who Changed Work, Writing, and the WorldBy Julia Cooke
An American Prophet of the Natural World
Celebrating the magical mundane
By John Kaag Thursday, March 5, 2026
The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinaryby Terry Tempest Williams
The Guilt of Victory and the Virtue of Defeat 
Wrestling with war and its aftermath
By David Stromberg Monday, March 2, 2026
Who Is Thinking?
The quest to discover the answer to an age-old question
By T. M. Luhrmann Monday, March 2, 2026
A World Appears: A Journey into ConsciousnessBy Michael Pollan
The Great Decipherment
Decoding the story of a lost civilization
By Ilan Stavans Monday, March 2, 2026
The Four Heavens: A New History of the Ancient MayaBy David Stuart
Think, Again
Reckoning with the elegance of physical laws and the wonders of being alive
By John Kaag Monday, March 2, 2026
TraversalBy Maria Popova
Family Trees
Threats to our woods are threats to us all
By Priscilla Long Monday, March 2, 2026
When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural WorldBy Suzanne Simard
Criminal Complexity
What inherited traits can—and can’t—tell us about violent behavior
By Jill Leovy Monday, March 2, 2026
Original Sin: On the Genetics of Vice, the Problem of Blame, and the Future of ForgivenessBy Kathryn Paige Harden
The Minotaur’s Muses
The romantic cruelty of a brilliant artist
By Anne Matthews Friday, February 27, 2026
Hidden Portraits: Six Women Who Shaped Picasso's Lifeby Sue Roe
Hold the Salt
Reconsidering an ancient city’s bad reputation
By Charles G. Salas Friday, January 23, 2026
Carthage: A New Historyby Eve MacDonald
