SPOTLIGHT

Women Are Evil

Eleanor Johnson on the 4,000-year-old trail of the demoness Lamashtu

By Stephanie Bastek Friday, October 30, 2026

SPOTLIGHT

Women Are Evil

Eleanor Johnson on the 4,000-year-old trail of the demoness Lamashtu

By Stephanie Bastek Friday, October 30, 2026

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

Read Me a Poem

“Ithaka” by C. P. Cavafy

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Tuning Up

Save the Meramec

On law, literature, and the Indiana bat

Smarty Pants Podcast

Call It Macaroni

Susan Stryker on her new book, Changing Gender

Tuning Up

Adding Wimsey to My Life

How I fell in love with a fictional detective

Asturias Days

On Returning

Read Me a Poem

“Everybody Who Is Dead” by Frank Stanford

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Gilt Trip

Who Is the Samurai, and Who Is the Prisoner?

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s films show that when it comes to history, some blanks aren’t meant to be filled

Asturias Days

Early Morning, Late August

Read Me a Poem

“The Farmer’s Bride” by Charlotte Mew

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Book Reviews

Unfriendly Exchange

The tale of a nuclear war that almost was

Article

The Spirit Seeker

Were it not for W. A. R. Goodwin, Williamsburg, Virginia, would look like a very different place today

Tuning Up

It’s All in Your Head

What a remarkable thing it is to remember what you read

Asturias Days

My Own Roll-Top

Read Me a Poem

“Monet’s Waterlilies” by Robert Hayden

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Portrait of the Artist

Jill Enfield

A Seat With a View

Smarty Pants Podcast

For Peat’s Sake

Merritt Turetsky on the secret life (and death) of bogs

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current issue

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

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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

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Reflections on a lifetime of dental drama

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

PBK at 250

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Meditations on Phi Beta Kappa and the futures we imagine