Wasps, and their unsung contributions to the ecosystem February 27, 2021 The sting. Pain is what we associate with the word “wasp,” because our definition of wasp is far too narrow. Read More
The neuroscientific excitement of ordinary moments February 25, 2021 We see the last cookie in the box and think, can I take that? We reach a hand out. In the 2.1 seconds that this impulse travels through our brain, billions of neurons communicate with one another, sending blips of voltage through our sensory and motor regions. Neuroscientists call these blips “spikes.” Read More
Emma Rothschild on An Infinite History February 24, 2021 Marie Aymard was an illiterate widow who lived in the provincial town of Angoulême in southwestern France, a place where seemingly nothing ever happened. Yet, in 1764, she made her fleeting mark on the historical record. Read More
Ridding ourselves of a demagogue: What the ancient Greeks would have thought of impeachment February 23, 2021 In 471 BCE, the politician and renowned general Themistocles was exiled from Athens for ten years by a vote of some six thousand Athenians. Read More
Listen in: White Freedom February 22, 2021 Available in audio, White Freedom traces the complex relationship between freedom and race from the eighteenth century to today, revealing how being free has meant being white. Start listening here. Read More
An interview with Jeff Deutsch February 19, 2021 We’re thrilled to welcome Jeff Deutsch to the Princeton University Press Board of Trustees. Recently our sales rep Lanora Haradon chatted with Jeff about bookselling, the challenges of the past year, and the key role bookstores play in communities. Read More
The surprising partnership of art and data February 18, 2021 In the mid-1960s, the renowned art historian Jules Prown was jeered. He was presenting new research at the annual meeting of the College Art Association, the principal professional art historical association. Read More
How discrimination haunts Western democracy February 16, 2021 As right-wing nationalism and authoritarian populism gain momentum across the world, liberals, and even some conservatives, worry that democratic principles are under threat. Read More
Book Club Pick: The Fire Is upon Us February 16, 2021 This month’s selection is The Fire Is upon Us by Nicholas Buccola. In this book, Buccola tells the unforgettable story of the historic debate at the Cambridge Union between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. Read More
George Washington’s disillusionment February 15, 2021 Today is Presidents Day, a holiday established in the late nineteenth century to celebrate the greatest of America’s founders, George Washington. By the end of his life Washington himself was hardly in a celebratory mood when he reflected on the state of the country. Read More
Common reading when dorm rooms become dorm Zooms February 12, 2021 In the last year, the student experience has changed dramatically. Dorm rooms were swapped for dorm Zooms as the 2020 Spring Break turned into a permanent evacuation of many campuses. Read More
Celebrating women in STEM February 11, 2021 International Day of Women and Girls in Science marks an opportunity to celebrate the brilliant women whose ideas have graced our bookshelves and touched our minds. Read More
The multilingual pleasures of English February 08, 2021 At a moment of resurgent nationalism in the English-speaking world, Émigrés invites native Anglophone readers to consider how much we owe the French language and why so many of us remain ambivalent about the migrants in our midst. Read More
Nicola Suthor on Bravura February 05, 2021 The painterly style known as bravura emerged in sixteenth-century Venice and spread throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. While earlier artistic movements presented a polished image of the artist by downplaying the creative process, bravura celebrated a painter’s distinct materials, virtuosic execution, and theatrical showmanship. Read More
White freedom invades the US Capitol February 03, 2021 On January 6, 2021 a violent mob numbering several thousand individuals invaded the United States Capitol Building in Washington DC, seeking not only to physically attack and even murder members of Congress but more generally to impose by force the reelection of President Donald Trump and thus to overthrow the lawfully elected American government. Read More