SPOTLIGHT

All Talk

Ease of communication will not save us

By Sam Kean Thursday, January 30, 2025

SPOTLIGHT

All Talk

Ease of communication will not save us

By Sam Kean Thursday, January 30, 2025

Portrait of the Artist

Paolo Arao

Acts of devotion

Book Reviews

We Are the Borg

Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us?

Web Essays

Nights at the Opera

Long before he wrote his masterly novels, Stendhal was transformed by the power of music

Asturias Days

The Challenge

Read Me a Poem

“The Cucumber” by Nâzim Hikmet

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Smarty Pants Podcast

Going for Gold

Joshua Prager on a forgotten Olympic gymnast whose 1904 record still hasn’t been beaten

Tuning Up

Bards Behind Bars

Reading Sartre aloud inside a maximum-security prison

Asturias Days

Un Tinto

Read Me a Poem

“Stick the Landing” by David Gewanter

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Asturias Days

Burned

Read Me a Poem

“The White Heart of God” by Jack Gilbert

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Portrait of the Artist

Paige Ledom

Out of the ordinary

Article

The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend

How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths

Old Christ Church in Alexandria. Virginia, attended by General Robert E. Lee in his youth and pictured here in 1911 (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign/Wikimedia Commons)
Book Reviews

Divided Providence

Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War

Asturias Days

Cudillero

Read Me a Poem

“The Terrorist, He’s Watching” by Wislawa Szymborska

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Smarty Pants Podcast

Keepers of the Old Ways

Eliot Stein on the people keeping cultural traditions alive

Next Line, Please

Above the River of Your Longing

Two new prompts

NEWSLETTER

Please enter a valid email address
That address is already in use
The security code entered was incorrect
Thanks for signing up

current issue

Book Reviews

Aging Out

Many of us do not go gentle into that good night

Article

The Fair Fields
loading

Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil

Poetry

The Art of Tuning In

Celebrating 20 years of poetry in the Scholar

Commonplace Book

Winter 2025

Book Reviews

Aging Out

Many of us do not go gentle into that good night

Article

The Fair Fields
loading

Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil

Poetry

The Art of Tuning In

Celebrating 20 years of poetry in the Scholar

Commonplace Book

Winter 2025