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
Visions From Jura
What the world looked like to George Orwell during his final days
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, May 29, 2025
The Resistance Fighter as Philosopher
Remembering Vladimir Jankélévitch
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, February 27, 2025
The Diagnostician of Despair
Why Rousseau believed that Enlightenment values would lead us to ruin
By Robert Zaretsky Thursday, December 19, 2024
On Book
August Wilson’s play just hit the big screen, but even greater rewards await on the page
By David A. Taylor Monday, November 25, 2024
The Baritone as Democrat
How Lawrence Tibbett prophesied the Metropolitan Opera crisis of today
By Joseph Horowitz Thursday, November 21, 2024
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
