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
A State of Perpetual Unease
Sartre’s essay on French anti-Semitism cast the problem in existential terms
By Robert Zaretsky Friday, December 15, 2023
Keeping House
Clinging to the rituals of home—even when longing to let them go
By Amanda Parrish Morgan Friday, November 17, 2023
Philip Gove and “Our Word”
A lexicographer remembers the worst frigging part of the job
By David Skinner Friday, November 10, 2023
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
The Great American Travel Book
The book that helped revive a genre, leading to an all-too-brief heyday
By Thomas Swick Thursday, August 28, 2025
Immaculate Innings
At the ballpark on a summer night in Baltimore
By David Brown Thursday, August 28, 2025
The Patient Penelope Fitzgerald
Here’s to the English writer who waited until her ninth decade to finally experience fame in America
By Jessica Francis Kane Friday, August 22, 2025
