Priyamvada Natarajan All Things Great and Small The origins and fates of atoms and galaxies are closely intertwined. July 1, 2021 issue
Corey Robin Arendt and Roth: An Uncanny Convergence Despite very different lives, the two writers not only knew and liked each other, but also found common cause in the great concerns that animated their work. May 12, 2021
Cass R. Sunstein What Price Is Right? Both government regulators and private companies regularly assign a monetary value to human lives. A new book argues that the price is too low, and can entrench inequalities. June 10, 2021 issue
Jenny Uglow Contagious Constitutions Linda Colley shows in her new book that written constitutions developed both as a means of shoring up entrenched rulers and of turning successful rebellions into legitimate governments. June 10, 2021 issue
Ariel Dorfman A Taxonomy of Tyrants Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s Strongmen delineates what the last century’s macho dictators have had in common. May 27, 2021 issue
Anna Della Subin The Rules of the Confidence Game The Book of Charlatans provides an unusual glimpse into the street life of medieval Islamic societies rarely captured in more elevated Arabic literary sources. May 27, 2021 issue
Tim Flannery Why Did They Vanish? Recent advancements in archaeology and genetics have granted us previously unimaginable insights into Neanderthal life. May 13, 2021 issue
Adam Kirsch The Symbolic Animal The philosopher Ernst Cassirer’s most timely insight is that even in a scientific age, people are prone to magical, mystical thinking. April 8, 2021 issue
Ankush Khardori Merrick Garland’s Moderation to Excess As attorney general, he is the United States’ top law enforcement officer. But is he enforcing enough? July 15, 2021
David Cole Surprising Consensus at the Supreme Court With narrow rulings in many of its most controversial cases, the Court defied predictions of a sharp turn to the right. August 19, 2021 issue
Peter C. Baker Death Drives Pedestrian fatalities are rising dramatically in the US, and Angie Schmitt’s Right of Way gives a rare look at why and what might be done about it. July 22, 2021 issue
Josephine Quinn Ravenna Between East and West It has been a barbarian city, a holy city, a woman’s city, and a city ruled by Romans, Huns, Goths, Greeks, and bishops. July 22, 2021 issue
Colin Thubron Pleasure Domes and Postal Routes Marie Favereau’s new book about the Golden Horde, the great Mongol power of the Eurasian steppe, explores its economy, ideology, and material culture, along with its wider influence. July 22, 2021 issue
Neal Ascherson Into the Wrecks What do sunken ships reveal about the history of war at sea? July 22, 2021 issue
Claudia Dreifus Dismantling the ‘Citadels of Pride’ After long witness of the way sexual harassment creates an “atmosphere of indignity,” the feminist philosopher sees the solution in the law, strong rules, due process—and tenure. June 30, 2021
David A. Bell A Haunted Patrimony Through their art collecting wealthy Jews staked a claim to being French, but the nation they loved savagely betrayed them. July 1, 2021 issue
Robert Macfarlane The Landscapes Inside Us Our navigational ability as a species is closely connected to our ability to tell stories about ourselves that unfold both backward and forward in time. July 1, 2021 issue
Ian Johnson A Most Adaptable Party The belief that history brought it to power is one of the few ideological constants in the Chinese Communist Party’s hundred-year saga. July 1, 2021 issue
