SPOTLIGHT

Losing the Thread

Can our culture survive without books?

By Todd Shy Thursday, October 15, 2026

SPOTLIGHT

Losing the Thread

Can our culture survive without books?

By Todd Shy Thursday, October 15, 2026

Asturias Days

Cien Vueltas

Measure by Measure

Bernstein on Bach

Learning about counterpoint on network TV

View from Rue Saint-Georges

Carpe Diem

In regret of lost time

Editors’ Picks

Dog Days and Dog-Eared Pages

A summer reading list, Scholar-style

Next Line, Please

Checkmate in 10 Moves

Portrait of the Artist

Katharine Dufault

Imagined Forests

Smarty Pants Podcast

Call of the Wild

How a radical conservation effort has transformed a former farm

Asturias Days

You Were on My Mind

Centennials, Part Two

The art of Henryk Szeryng

Next Line, Please

At the Lonesome Bijou

Asturias Days

Supposed to Be

Read Me a Poem

“To Lallie (Outside the British Museum)” by Amy Levy

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Article

Love the Blood

Exploring the complexity of a life with Carl Van Vechten, on the centennial of his most notorious work

Book Reviews

Battle for the Ballot Box

How decades of legal attacks and court decisions have undermined the crown jewel of the civil rights movement

Read Me a Poem

“Mummy of a Lady Named Jemutesonekh” by Thomas James

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Portrait of the Artist

Lizz Freeman

Tailoring memory

Smarty Pants Podcast

Dawn of the Brain-Dead

Carl Elliott on the ethical implications of going beyond organ transplantation

● 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

Article

A Teacher and a Friend

The roots of Anthony Benezet’s campaign against slavery—and his belief in Black and white equality—can be traced to the remarkable school he ran out of his home

Article

My Two Front Teeth

Reflections on a lifetime of dental drama

Article

Welcome to the Bioemporium

Brain-dead bodies hold great promise for medical education and research, but how do we calculate the ethical cost?

PBK at 250

The Revolutionary Scholar

Meditations on Phi Beta Kappa and the futures we imagine

PBK at 250

The Two Ladies of Vermont

In 1875, the debate over whether to induct women into Phi Beta Kappa exposed a crack in the foundation of Western education

Article

A Teacher and a Friend

The roots of Anthony Benezet’s campaign against slavery—and his belief in Black and white equality—can be traced to the remarkable school he ran out of his home

Article

My Two Front Teeth

Reflections on a lifetime of dental drama

Article

Welcome to the Bioemporium

Brain-dead bodies hold great promise for medical education and research, but how do we calculate the ethical cost?

PBK at 250

The Revolutionary Scholar

Meditations on Phi Beta Kappa and the futures we imagine

PBK at 250

The Two Ladies of Vermont

In 1875, the debate over whether to induct women into Phi Beta Kappa exposed a crack in the foundation of Western education