Stepping into A Dog’s World November 05, 2021 As I write these words, Bella is napping on the floor next to my desk, curled into herself like a large hairy black bean. Every so often, following an inner cue that remains mysterious to me, she stretches out and arches onto her back, feet to the sky, exposing a soft white belly. Read More
So what’s new? Innovation in ancient Greek experience October 29, 2021 When I worked in business in the 1980s I was struck by the constant demand for the new. The company I worked in produced and stocked a wide range of well-designed products for a varied international market, but customers would regularly pass over existing designs—even the most recent ones—and ask “What’s new?” Read More
Roger Luckhurst on Gothic: An Illustrated History October 28, 2021 How can you hope to navigate a genre that starts with a bunch of gloomy British poets brooding in crepuscular graveyards in the 1740s and ended up recently delivering us the sixth film in the Sharknado franchise (where killer sharks get hurled around by tornados, obviously)? Read More
Edgar Allan Poe’s suburban dream October 27, 2021 If there were ever an American writer you would not associate with the suburbs, it’s Edgar Allan Poe. His popular image tends to be that of an isolated figure, oblivious to his surroundings. Read More
Judith Barringer on Olympia: A Cultural History October 26, 2021 The memory of ancient Olympia lives on in the form of the modern Olympic Games. But in the ancient era, Olympia was renowned for far more than its athletic contests. Read More
Shannon Lee Dawdy on American Afterlives October 25, 2021 Death in the United States is undergoing a quiet revolution. You can have your body frozen, dissected, composted, dissolved, or tanned. Read More
Up close and circular October 22, 2021 Over the past year, if you were a bird in the habit of soaring over the suburban neighborhood in which I live, you would have seen me walking. Read More
Conspiracy theories and the value of philosophy October 20, 2021 When you hear a claim that runs counter to mainstream thinking, like that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, or that close contact with a person who has been vaccinated against COVID-19 can make you sterile, or that the Holocaust never occurred, what should you think about in order to evaluate the claim? Read More
Plant-based dietetics in Plato’s city for pigs October 20, 2021 The first thing to know about pigs is that they are not vegetarians. They are omnivores and their food choices pose no ethical dilemmas for them. Read More
Claudia Goldin on Career and Family October 15, 2021 A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college graduates than ever before, and more women want to have a career and family, yet challenges persist at work and at home. Read More
Poverty, pandemic, and peace of mind October 14, 2021 When COVID-19 spread around the world, I was living in the south of France, but my mind was in the U.S. south. Read More
A social democratic surprise: The results of the German elections October 12, 2021 The first election after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s retirement was eagerly awaited, since it would show the direction of Germany’s and Europe’s future. Read More
Kyle Harper on Plagues upon the Earth October 06, 2021 Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity’s uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress. Read More
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
Shelley Frisch on the work (and play) of translation September 30, 2021 Award-winning translator Shelley Frisch shares her thoughts about the principles that guide her work, rituals that she turns to as she settles in with a work, and what she enjoys most about translating texts. Read More