Philip Gove and “Our Word”

A lexicographer remembers the worst frigging part of the job

Beethoven Underground

One ensemble bids farewell, with another just getting started

The Forgotten Writers of the Shoah

What the work of women survivors can tell us about the horrors of life in the camps

The Humanist in the Laboratory

A personal encounter with J. Robert Oppenheimer

The Decreationist

Simone Weil’s thoughts on the unmaking of the self

Alcaraz’s World

The future of men’s tennis is now

“Better Asians than Blacks”

What we’re missing about the SCOTUS decision on race-conscious admissions

Just Imagine

Adam Smith on the faculty that makes us human

The Musical Bard

A turn through the musical museum of folk song and family

Remembering Alison

A writer who relished the extremes in life and found humor in the darkest regions

It’s a Wonderful (Falling Apart) Life

In the disrepair of our everyday world are suggestions of life’s burdens and consolations

The Conspiracist Cotton Mather

The zealot who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials initially voiced restraint—what changed?

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?

What Is an American Hero, Anyway?

Lists of great artists say more about the list-maker than the artist

My First Novel

A jean jacket, a muse, and a dream

Inner Demon Hunters

Could a hit animated movie hold the key to healing generational trauma in Korea?

Days of Awe

The Romantics sought the sublime in nature, but the feeling may be experienced in humanity, too

Key Change

A life with Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique

The Great American Travel Book

The book that helped revive a genre, leading to an all-too-brief heyday

Immaculate Innings

At the ballpark on a summer night in Baltimore

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