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
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times
The people of Poland step up
By Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough Saturday, March 19, 2022
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Footage from a war and the effects on your brain
By Richard Restak Thursday, March 17, 2022
View from the Mesa
A scientist and pacifist looks back at what Los Alamos has wrought
By Jeffrey Kovac Saturday, March 12, 2022
Kerouac at 100
He led readers to bohemian rhapsodies, then Buddhism
By Randy Rosenthal Thursday, March 10, 2022
Putin’s Gambit
What if Russia’s motives in Ukraine are even more insidious than we think?
By David Stromberg Wednesday, March 9, 2022
The Plot to Kill de Gaulle
Fred Zinnemann’s “clock management” in The Day of the Jackal
By David Lehman Saturday, March 5, 2022
A Ukrainian Story
Displacement is sadly nothing new for my family’s homeland
By Megan Buskey Saturday, February 26, 2022
The Prophecy of an Assassination
John Frankenheimer’s prescient 1962 film, The Manchurian Candidate
By David Lehman Saturday, January 22, 2022
