Fractured Odysseus
The psychiatrist Jonathan Shay’s books on Homer are the key to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey
By Colin Dickey Thursday, August 20, 2026
Gratitude Isn’t Everything
The revolutionary Patriots owed much to their forefathers, but their fight for universal rights embraced a wider mission
By Robert A. Gross Friday, July 31, 2026
It All Comes Down to This
As the recent World Cup showed, the drama of a penalty shootout can at times be Shakespearean
By Eric Wills Thursday, July 30, 2026
What He Stood For
How Angus Cameron, one of the most significant editors in the history of American publishing, responded to being targeted by the McCarthy blacklist
By Jonathan Coleman Friday, April 24, 2026
Who Is Blake Whiting?
The most astonishingly productive historian in recent times is someone you’ll never meet
By Andrew Lawler Thursday, April 16, 2026
The Importance of Being Idle
What Paul Lafargue taught us about work
By Robert Zaretsky Monday, March 30, 2026
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
Taking Down Teddy
In our rush to condemn the heroes of the past, we must be sure not to abandon empathy
By David Gessner Thursday, September 10, 2020
My Premature Autobiography
The form of things as they were, as they are, and as they will come to be
By Ray Douglas Bradbury Saturday, August 22, 2020
Ahead of the Game
Before exercising the right to vote, women fought for the right to exercise
By Victoria J. Ross Monday, August 17, 2020
Winning the Second World War
Some reasons why the Allies made it happen
By Michael W. Robbins Saturday, August 15, 2020
Coward, Take My Coward’s Hand
Looking back at Mark Robson’s Home of the Brave
By David Lehman Thursday, August 13, 2020
A Pre-Columbian Bestiary
Fantastic creatures of indigenous Latin America
By Ilan Stavans Thursday, August 6, 2020
Beyond Classification
One writer’s journey into the labyrinth of political and bureaucratic obfuscation
By Michael Sherry Thursday, July 23, 2020
Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Actby Nicholson Baker
Brotherly Medicine
The poet who helped bind up the nation’s wounds
By Robert Roper Thursday, July 16, 2020
America’s Black Soldiers
The long history behind the Army’s Jim Crow forts
By Elizabeth D. Samet Saturday, July 11, 2020
Billy Joe Wardlow, RIP
The subject of a Scholar cover story, executed in Texas
