Essay Fortune’s knave April 11, 2022 In the spring of 1924, Stalin’s nemesis and rival, Lev Trotsky, told the “Old Bolshevik” Vladimir Smirnov, “Stalin will become the dictator of the USSR.” “Stalin?” Smirnov reacted. “But he is a mediocrity, a colorless non-entity.” Read More
Essay A look inside Lives of Houses March 31, 2022 The writing of lives often involves writing about houses. Bringing a house to life through observation, familiarity, memory, or excavation can be a vital part of narrating the life of an individual, a family, or a group: life-writing as housework. Read More
Essay Madison’s balancing act March 22, 2022 The further the American Revolution recedes into history, the easier it is to miss just how close the United States of America came to being a divided collection of competing colonies under the punishing heel of an angry Britain. Read More
Essay A spacetime interval March 14, 2022 Albert Einstein is dead. Bohemia, too, no longer exists. They have ascended to the realm of myths and legends, become words to conjure with—yet they are not, in general, invoked together. Read More
Essay Educating citizens November 11, 2021 The presidential election of 2016 prompted many academic leaders and faculty members to ponder the implications for their own institution. Read More
Essay A look inside City of Dreams October 03, 2021 On April 10, 1962, amid ceremony and celebration, Dodger Stadium, major league baseball’s modern showpiece, opened in Los Angeles, California. Read More
Essay Galaxies, the expanding universe, and the Big Bang September 19, 2021 Stars are so far away, they appear as unresolved points of light, even through modern telescopes. But seventeenth-century astronomers noticed a number of other objects in the sky that were extended and often fuzzy looking. Read More
Essay A look inside The War for Gaul: A New Translation September 13, 2021 Caesar deserves to be compared with Alexander the Great. No one before or since comes close. Read More
Essay The three ages of India’s democracy August 26, 2021 The comparative study of democracies has long since determined that this type of regime warrants qualification. While liberal democracy remains an ideal form, many “hybrids” that blend this archetype with other political genres have long existed. Read More
Essay Finding mystery, truth, and beauty on mathematicians’ chalkboards August 13, 2021 I grew up in a house on the campus of a boarding school in Connecticut. My father taught history and coached the wrestling team, while my mother taught art. Our lives were totally immersed in this insular academic world—the school was our home and our playground. Read More
Essay How washing dishes restored my intellectual life August 05, 2021 Midway through the journey of my life, I found myself in the woods of eastern Ontario, living in a remote Catholic religious community called Madonna House. Read More
Essay A look inside Darkness by Design August 03, 2021 From New York to London, from Chicago to Tokyo, and from Frankfurt to Sydney, capital markets the world over have undergone revolutionary changes during the past two decades. Read More
Essay The birth of biology July 29, 2021 It is impossible to pinpoint the precise moment when the first notions of our modern understanding of biology emerged. Our interest in the natural world is not a new phenomenon—a preoccupation with reproduction, birth, and the nature of disease, as well as descriptions of animal and plant species, can be traced back to ancient times. Read More
Essay A look inside Very Important People July 28, 2021 A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of “models and bottles” to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men. Read More
Essay On self interest June 30, 2021 Self-interest drives capitalism. Capitalism’s friends and foes agree on this, even if they agree on nothing else. Read More
