Socrates' Mistake
The philosopher’s view of knowledge—forever demanding explanations, justifications, definitions, and criteria—is fantasy, and a dangerous fantasy
By George Watson March 1, 2005
A Standard Oil Childhood
Oil refeneries, sand dunes, and other objects of beauty and affection
By Thomas H. Rogers March 1, 2005
The Big Roundup
John Lomax roamed the West, collecting classic songs from the cowboy era
By Ted Gioia March 1, 2005
The Glue Is Gone
The things that held us together as individuals and as a people are being lost. Can we find them again?
By Edward Hoagland December 1, 2004
So Help Me God
What all fifty-four inaugural addresses, taken as one long book, tell us about American history
By Ted Widmer December 1, 2004
What We Got Wrong
How Arabs look at the self, their society, and their political institutions
By Lawrence Rosen December 1, 2004
The Coming of the French
My life as an English professor
By Phyllis Rose December 1, 2004
The Software Wars
Why you can’t understand your computer
By Paul De Palma December 1, 2004
Martha Foley’s Granddaughters
What the esteemed literary editor never knew about the life of her troubled son, David Burnett
By Jay Neugeboren Thursday, July 18, 2024
To Catch a Sunset
Reflections on allergies, anxieties, and the limits of familial love
By Sandra Beasley Thursday, July 11, 2024
The Next New Thing
In architecture, the gulf between the traditional and the modern seems wider than ever before
By Witold Rybczynski Thursday, July 4, 2024
Imperfecta
Her brother’s disease leads a writer to challenge how we conceive of human abnormality in the emerging era of gene editing
By Pamela Haag Thursday, June 20, 2024
The Widower’s Lament
After the death of the poet Wendy Barker, her grieving husband turns to the literature of loss
By Steven G. Kellman Monday, March 4, 2024
The World at the End of a Line
The grandson of one of American literature’s Lost Generation novelists reflects on his namesake’s love of the sea
By John Dos Passos Coggin Thursday, April 13, 2023
The Goddess Complex
A set of revered stone deities was stolen from a temple in northwestern India; their story can tell us much about our current reckoning with antiquities trafficking
By Elizabeth Kadetsky Thursday, March 2, 2023
Last Rites and Comic Flights
A funeral in a 1984 Japanese film offers moments of slapstick amid the solemnity
By Pico Iyer Thursday, July 28, 2022
The Believer
When nobody would touch Joyce’s manuscript, Sylvia Beach stepped in
By Keri Walsh Wednesday, June 15, 2022
● This week's archive pick
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