Why Europe? Y. Pestis July 18, 2022 During the Middle Ages, two formidable species pervaded West Eurasia: homo sapiens (humans) and rattus rattus (black rats). The two disliked each other, but literally lived in each other’s homes. In 1345, the Black Death reached them. Read More
The bold experiment July 18, 2022 On May 9, 1994 the Parliament convened, governed by the new Speaker, an Indian woman and human rights lawyer named Frene Ginwala. Their one order of business was to elect the new state president, Nelson Mandela, and they did so without dissent. Read More
Adrienne Mayor on Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws July 14, 2022 Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights—glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth—embedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Read More
Evan Lieberman on Until We Have Won Our Liberty July 14, 2022 At a time when many democracies are under strain around the world, Until We Have Won Our Liberty shines new light on the signal achievements of one of the contemporary era’s most closely watched transitions away from minority rule. Read More
Conservatism as a political practice July 13, 2022 Before the story goes on, some ground needs to be cleared. What is conservatism? What is this a story of? There are no knockdown facts here. Read More
Listen in: The Sky Is for Everyone July 07, 2022 The Sky Is for Everyone is an internationally diverse collection of autobiographical essays by women who broke down barriers and changed the face of modern astronomy. Start listening to Chapter 1 of the audiobook. Read More
PUP Speaks: Jennifer Carlson on the racialization of gun policing July 07, 2022 When asked their policy preference on guns, police prioritize gun rights over gun control on a ratio of 3:1. The application of the law is therefore governed by the same biases found in all areas of American society—and particularly by racial disparity. Read More
A new way of life July 06, 2022 Every day billions of people devote a significant amount of time to worshiping an imaginary being. More precisely, they praise, exalt, and pray to the God of the major Abrahamic religions. They put their hopes in—and they fear—a transcendent, supernatural deity that, they believe, created the world and now exercises providence over it. Read More
Until We Have Won Our Liberty July 06, 2022 In this podcast, Evan Lieberman discusses his new book, Until We Have Won Our Liberty, a compelling account of South Africa’s post-Apartheid democracy. Read More
Book Club Pick: The Slow Moon Climbs July 05, 2022 Are the ways we look at menopause all wrong? Susan Mattern says yes and, in The Slow Moon Climbs, reveals just how wrong we have been. Read More
Listen in: What Makes an Apple? July 05, 2022 In the last years of his life, the writer Amos Oz talked regularly with Shira Hadad, who worked closely with him as the editor of his final novel, Judas. These candid, uninhibited dialogues show a side of Oz that few ever saw. Read More
Eddie Cole on town and campus conflict June 30, 2022 In recent months the media have closely followed the issues of student housing at Berkeley, highlighting the tensions that frequently arise between university campuses and those living around them. Read More
Acquiring a horizon June 27, 2022 Expectations about the environment and how it should act are being undone. In an idealized world, scientific projections hold; natural disasters can be contained; and knowledge, assumed to be cumulative, can be relied upon to maintain some semblance of predictability. Read More
Taxing the light of heaven June 27, 2022 There is no bloodshed in our last story, but it takes us to the heart of the tax-design problem. This is the tale of the window tax, imposed in Britain from 16971 to 1851. Read More
The sounds of summer June 21, 2022 During the month of June we celebrate the audiobook and all that it has to offer as we start on our summer reading lists. Read More