The January 6th Capitol insurrection one year on January 06, 2022 Hate crimes. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. Foiled white-supremacist plots. The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities across America and around the globe are struggling to understand how so many people are being radicalized and why they are increasingly attracted to violent movements. Read More
“Bambi” isn’t about what you think it’s about January 05, 2022 Most of us think we know the story of Bambi—but do we? The Original Bambi is an all-new, illustrated translation of a literary classic that presents the story as it was meant to be told. Read More
Billy Wilder on Assignment December 19, 2021 Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin. Read More
Why Trust Science? December 14, 2021 Are doctors right when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the perils of global warming? Why should we trust science when so many of our political leaders don’t? Read More
When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People November 22, 2021 There is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. Read More
Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity October 21, 2021 Renowned economic historian, Claudia Goldin traces women’s journey to close the gender wage gap and sheds new light on the continued struggle to achieve equity between couples at home. Read More
What Makes Us Smart: The Computational Logic of Human Cognition October 08, 2021 At the heart of human intelligence rests a fundamental puzzle: How are we incredibly smart and stupid at the same time? No existing machine can match the power and flexibility of human perception, language, and reasoning. Read More
Pedias: Beautiful, short books about big, important subjects September 22, 2021 In this podcast, Marshall Poe talks to Robert Kirk, the publisher of the Pedia book series. Encyclopedic in nature and miniature in form, these books explore the wonders of the natural world, from A to Z. Read More
Ice Rivers: A Story of Glaciers, Wilderness, and Humanity September 16, 2021 A riveting blend of cutting-edge research and tales of encounters with polar bears and survival under the midnight sun, Ice Rivers is an unforgettable portrait of—and love letter to—our vanishing icy wildernesses. Read More
The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors September 15, 2021 The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. Read More
Ideas Podcast: Moving Up without Losing Your Way August 24, 2021 Upward mobility through higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, little attention has been paid to the personal compromises such students make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Read More
In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio August 19, 2021 Is there an ideal portfolio of investment assets, one that perfectly balances risk and reward? In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio examines this question by profiling and interviewing ten of the most prominent figures in the finance world. Read More
Émigrés: French Words That Turned English July 16, 2021 Richard Scholar examines the continuing history of untranslated French words in English and asks what these words reveal about the fertile but fraught relationship that England and France have long shared. Read More
What do the ancients have to teach us? July 15, 2021 Marshall Poe recently had a fascinating conversation with Rob Tempio, the talented editor behind the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series. The books in this series present the timeless and timely ideas of classical thinkers in lively new translations. Read More
We Are Not Born Submissive: How Patriarchy Shapes Women’s Lives July 09, 2021 What role do women play in the perpetuation of patriarchy? On the one hand, popular media urges women to be independent, outspoken, and career-minded. Yet, this same media glorifies a specific, sometimes voluntary, female submissiveness as a source of satisfaction. Read More
