Essay Fortune鈥檚 knave April 11, 2022 In the spring of 1924, Stalin鈥檚 nemesis and rival, Lev Trotsky, told the 鈥淥ld Bolshevik鈥� Vladimir Smirnov, 鈥淪talin will become the dictator of the USSR.鈥� 鈥淪talin?鈥� Smirnov reacted. 鈥淏ut he is a mediocrity, a colorless non-entity.鈥� Read More
Essay A look inside Lives of Houses March 31, 2022 The writing of lives often involves writing about houses. Bringing a聽house聽to life through observation, familiarity, memory, or excavation can be聽a聽vital part of narrating the life of an individual, a family, or a聽group:聽life-writing as housework. Read More
Essay Madison鈥檚 balancing act聽 March 22, 2022 The further the American Revolution recedes into history, the easier it is to miss just how close the United States of America came to being a divided collection of competing colonies under the punishing heel of an angry Britain. Read More
Essay A spacetime interval聽 March 14, 2022 Albert Einstein is dead. Bohemia, too, no longer exists. They have ascended to the realm of myths and legends, become words to conjure with鈥攜et they are not, in general, invoked together. Read More
Essay Educating citizens November 11, 2021 The presidential election of 2016 prompted many academic leaders and faculty members to ponder the implications for their own institution. Read More
Essay A look inside City of Dreams October 03, 2021 On April 10, 1962, amid ceremony and celebration, Dodger Stadium, major league baseball鈥檚 modern showpiece, opened in Los Angeles, California. Read More
Essay Galaxies, the expanding universe, and the Big Bang September 19, 2021 Stars are so far away, they appear as unresolved points of light, even through modern telescopes. But seventeenth-century astronomers noticed a number of other objects in the sky that were extended and often fuzzy looking. Read More
Essay A look inside The War for Gaul: A New Translation September 13, 2021 Caesar deserves to be compared with Alexander the Great. No one before or since comes close. Read More
Essay The three ages of India鈥檚 democracy August 26, 2021 The comparative study of democracies has long since determined that this type of regime warrants qualification. While liberal democracy remains an ideal form, many 鈥渉ybrids鈥� that blend this archetype with other political genres have long existed. Read More
Essay Finding mystery, truth, and beauty on mathematicians鈥� chalkboards August 13, 2021 I grew up in a house on the campus of a boarding school in Connecticut. My father taught history and coached the wrestling team, while my mother taught art. Our lives were totally immersed in this insular academic world鈥攖he school was our home and our playground. Read More
Essay How washing dishes restored my intellectual life August 05, 2021 Midway through the journey of my life, I found myself in the woods of eastern Ontario, living in a remote Catholic religious community called Madonna House. Read More
Essay A look inside Darkness by Design August 03, 2021 From New York to London, from Chicago to Tokyo, and from Frankfurt to Sydney, capital markets the world over have undergone revolutionary changes during the past two decades. Read More
Essay The birth of biology July 29, 2021 It is impossible to pinpoint the precise moment when the first notions of our modern understanding of biology emerged. Our interest in the natural world is not a new phenomenon鈥攁 preoccupation with reproduction, birth, and the nature of disease, as well as descriptions of animal and plant species, can be traced back to ancient times. Read More
Essay A look inside Very Important People July 28, 2021 A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of 鈥渕odels and bottles鈥� to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men. Read More
Essay On self interest June 30, 2021 Self-interest drives capitalism. Capitalism鈥檚 friends and foes agree on this, even if they agree on nothing else. Read More
