Jason Brennan on When All Else Fails December 11, 2018 The economist Albert O. Hirschman famously argued that citizens of democracies have only three possible responses to injustice or wrongdoing by their governments: we may leave, complain, or comply. Read More
David Hu on How to Walk on Water and Climb Up Walls November 12, 2018 Insects walk on water, snakes slither, and fish swim. Animals move with astounding grace, speed, and versatility: how do they do it, and what can we learn from them? Read More
Edward Burger on Making Up Your Own Mind November 09, 2018 We solve countless problems—big and small—every day. With so much practice, why do we often have trouble making simple decisions—much less arriving at optimal solutions to important questions? Read More
François-Xavier Fauvelle on The Golden Rhinoceros November 09, 2018 From the birth of Islam in the seventh century to the voyages of European exploration in the fifteenth, Africa was at the center of a vibrant exchange of goods and ideas. Read More
William R. Newman on Newton the Alchemist November 07, 2018 When Isaac Newton’s alchemical papers surfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in 1936, the quantity and seeming incoherence of the manuscripts were shocking. Read More
Rebecca Bedell on Moved to Tears October 05, 2018 In her new book Moved to Tears, Rebecca Bedell overturns received ideas about sentimental art, arguing that major American artists—from John Trumbull and Charles Willson Peale in the eighteenth century and Asher Durand and Winslow Homer in the nineteenth to Henry Ossawa Tanner and Frank Lloyd Wright in the early twentieth—produced what was understood in their time as sentimental art. Read More
Martin Rees on On the Future October 01, 2018 Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various prospects for the future—good and bad—are possible. Read More
Jack Wertheimer on The New American Judaism September 07, 2018 American Judaism has been buffeted by massive social upheavals in recent decades. In The New American Judaism, Jack Wertheimer, a leading authority on the subject, sets out to discover how Jews of various orientations practice their religion in this radically altered landscape. Read More
Marcia Bjornerud on Timefulness July 10, 2018 Our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and our habits will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations. Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth’s deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future. Read More
Marcin Wodziński on Historical Atlas of Hasidism July 10, 2018 Historical Atlas of Hasidism is the very first cartographic reference book on one of the modern era's most vibrant and important mystical movements. Read More
Matthew Salganik: The Open Review of Bit by Bit, Part 2—Higher sales April 18, 2018 This post is the second in a three part series about the Open Review of Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age. This post describes how Open Review led to higher sales. Read More
Matthew Salganik: The Open Review of Bit by Bit, Part 3—Increased access to knowledge April 18, 2018 This is the third post in a three part series about the Open Review of Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age. This post describes how Open Review led to increased access to knowledge. Read More
Matthew Salganik: The Open Review of Bit by Bit, Part 1—Better books April 18, 2018 My new book Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age is for social scientists who want to do more data science, data scientists who want to do more social science, and anyone interesting in the combination of these two fields. Read More
Fiona Sze‑Lorrain reads from The Ruined Elegance March 28, 2018 In celebration of National Poetry Month, Fiona Sze-Lorrain has recorded Given Silence from The Ruined Elegance, her collection of poems in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets series. Read More