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)

SPOTLIGHT

Divided Providence

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

By Robert Wilson Thursday, January 23, 2025

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)

SPOTLIGHT

Divided Providence

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

By Robert Wilson Thursday, January 23, 2025

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

Asturias Days

Casa Gorín

Read Me a Poem

“The Purse-Seine” by Robinson Jeffers

Poems read aloud, beautifully

Book Reviews

Island Royalty

A new biography of a Caribbean revolutionary

Article

The Writer in the Family

The fiction of E. L. Doctorow gave a young man hope of connecting his father and his literary hero

Asturias Days

Birthday Boy

Smarty Pants Podcast

The Wine-Merchant’s Son’s Tale

The first biography of Geoffrey Chaucer in a generation explores the places that inspired the English poet

View from Rue Saint-Georges

Mornings of Stillness and Wonder

How my son is helping me to rediscover the City of Lights

Web Essays

The NASA You Never Hear About

No, the agency did not invent Tang or Velcro, but its discoveries have many applications in our day-to-day lives

A man and his dog sit in the cab of a druck, with the sun filtering in over ranchland.
Works in Progress

Heritage Ranching

Preserving a way of life

Books Essay

Finding Your Voice

How one writer discovered his when he stopped looking for it and learned instead to listen

A rocket launches into the sky amidst clouds at night.
Cover Story

Our Fate Is in the Stars

Today’s space program still does amazing things, but nothing like Apollo. It’s time to begin again.

A wall of glaciers, colored in a gradient of blue
Works in Progress

Speeding at a Glacial Pace

Four questions about the future of Antarctica

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