Writer on Board
The cruise story from Twain to Shteyngart
By Thomas Swick Thursday, September 5, 2024
Nights at the Opera
Long before he wrote his masterly novels, Stendhal was transformed by the power of music
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, August 15, 2024
A Terrifying Delight
Following Robert Frost into the depths
By Mark Edmundson Thursday, June 27, 2024
Consummated in Exile
A new recording of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances conveys the breadth of the 20th-century composer’s life’s journey
By Joseph Horowitz Friday, June 14, 2024
Stereotypes and the City
What to make of HBO’s attempts to diversify an iconic show?
By Sharon Sochil Washington Thursday, April 25, 2024
Ripeness Is All
What may be the fate of classical music’s new superstars?
By Joseph Horowitz Thursday, April 11, 2024
The Very Elder Statesman
Konrad Adenauer transformed West Germany, doing his best work as an octogenarian
By Mark N. Grant Friday, March 8, 2024
Iris as Pupil
Before this canonical English writer published novels, she was a student of French postwar philosophy
By Robert Zaretsky Friday, March 1, 2024
Starving
The feelings of yearning and loss, when faced with an empty nest, can manifest in striking ways
By Laura Bernstein-Machlay Friday, February 23, 2024
Gilded Guilt
On Taylor Swift, Julian Fellowes, and the class conflicts that never die
By Jessa Crispin Friday, February 13, 2026
The Popper Principle
Did Plato really espouse ideas that led eventually to totalitarianism?
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, January 29, 2026
It’s a Wonderful (Falling Apart) Life
In the disrepair of our everyday world are suggestions of life’s burdens and consolations
By Ben Slote Friday, December 19, 2025
The Conspiracist Cotton Mather
The zealot who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials initially voiced restraint—what changed?
By Colin Dickey Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Baby Shoggoth Is Listening
Why are some writers tailoring their work for AI, and what does this mean for the future of writing and reading?
By Dan Kagan-Kans Wednesday, October 29, 2025
What Is an American Hero, Anyway?
Lists of great artists say more about the list-maker than the artist
By Jessa Crispin Friday, October 24, 2025
Inner Demon Hunters
Could a hit animated movie hold the key to healing generational trauma in Korea?
By Jean Kim Friday, October 10, 2025
Days of Awe
The Romantics sought the sublime in nature, but the feeling may be experienced in humanity, too
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, September 25, 2025
Key Change
A life with Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique
By Emily Fox Kaplan Thursday, September 18, 2025
