Nicholas Buccola on The Fire is Upon Us November 14, 2019 On February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America's most influential conservative intellectual. Read More
Naomi Oreskes on Why Trust Science? November 13, 2019 Do doctors really know what they are talking about 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 our own politicians don't? Read More
A look inside Protest!: A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics November 12, 2019 Throughout history, artists and citizens have turned to protest art as a means of demonstrating social and political discontent. Read More
A look inside The Nevada Test Site November 11, 2019 More nuclear bombs have been detonated in America than in any other country in the world. Between 1951 and 1992, the Nevada National Security Test Site was the primary location for these activities, withstanding more than a thousand nuclear tests that left swaths of the American Southwest resembling the moon. Read More
How to Build Community November 06, 2019 In the pages and impact of each book can be found the work of as many as 35 different individuals—from editorial assistant to metadata manager—and that doesn’t include readers and listeners, which increase the individuals involved in a book in exponential ways. Read More
By Design | Fungipedia: A Brief Compendium of Mushroom Lore November 05, 2019 Playfully illustrated by Amy Jean Porter, Fungipedia is an accessible, and sometimes irreverent, tour of mycology: a mini encyclopedia of mushrooms, for all intents and purposes. Read More
Chile’s “awakening” and the troubled relationship between neoliberalism and democracy November 04, 2019 Last week Chile went through the most extreme moment of political turmoil since Pinochet’s dictatorship. Read More
Will AI Become Conscious? A Conversation with Susan Schneider November 04, 2019 Consciousness is the felt quality of experience. When you see a wave cresting on a beach, smell the aroma of freshly baked bread, or feel the pain of stubbing your toe, you are having conscious experience. Read More
David Richeson on Tales of Impossibility November 03, 2019 Tales of Impossibility recounts the intriguing story of the so-called ‘problems of antiquity,’ four of the most famous and studied questions in the history of mathematics. Read More
Sonia Contera on Nano Comes to Life November 01, 2019 Nano Comes to Life opens a window onto the nanoscale—the infinitesimal realm of proteins and DNA where physics and cellular and molecular biology meet—and introduces readers to the rapidly evolving nanotechnologies that are allowing us to manipulate the very building blocks of life. Read More
Lawrence Millman on Fungipedia October 29, 2019 Fungipedia presents a delightful A–Z treasury of mushroom lore. Watch as Lawrence Millman introduces you to the world of mushrooms right outside your door. Read More
Artificial You: The book trailer October 25, 2019 Humans may not be Earth’s most intelligent beings for much longer: the world champions of chess, Go, and Jeopardy! are now all AIs. Given the rapid pace of progress in AI, many predict that it could advance to human-level intelligence within the next several decades. Read More
First time author spotlight: James Lindley Wilson on Democratic Equality October 22, 2019 Democracy establishes relationships of political equality, ones in which citizens equally share authority over what they do together and respect one another as equals. Read More
Walter Scheidel on Escape from Rome October 22, 2019 The fall of the Roman Empire has long been considered one of the greatest disasters in history. But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome’s dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe’s economic rise and the creation of the modern age. Read More
Kate Bowler on The Preacher’s Wife October 19, 2019 Since the 1970s, an important new figure has appeared on the center stage of American evangelicalism—the celebrity preacher’s wife. Read More