Interview Irene Vega on Bordering on Indifference May 09, 2025 In her new book, Bordering on Indifference, Irene Vega tells the story of how U.S. Border Patrol Agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers come into the work, how they are trained and socialized once on the job, and how that training and socialization impacts the way they reconcile its many moral and racial tensions. Read More
Interview Vali Nasr on Iran鈥檚 Grand Strategy May 07, 2025 Vali Nasr examines Iran鈥檚 political history in new ways to explain its actions and ambitions on the world stage, showing how, behind the veneer of theocracy and Islamic ideology, today鈥檚 Iran is pursuing a grand strategy aimed at securing the country internally and asserting its place in the region and the world. Read More
Essay Lars Krutak on Indigenous Tattoo Traditions May 05, 2025 Transporting readers through history, anthropologist Lars Krutak explores the art and customs of tattooing across numerous ancestral lands, including Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, the Arctic, Oceania, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Siberia. Read More
Essay Personal advice columns, then and now April 30, 2025 Mary Beth Norton's research into "The Athenian Mercury" reveals what has changed鈥攁nd stayed the same鈥攐ver the long history of advice columns. Read More
Essay Why linguistic diversity matters April 29, 2025 Over 7,000 languages are spoken today, but nearly half could vanish by the end of the century. Read More
Essay Bookstores are arsenals of democracy April 25, 2025 As long as there have been bookstores, booksellers have been threatened, arrested, jailed, fined, and prosecuted. Read More
Essay Fire sermons: Seneca and Thoreau on climate trauma April 21, 2025 鈥淐limate trauma鈥� is a phrase that has now entered the global lexicon. As global temperatures rise and population densifies in settled areas, the effects of catastrophic weather events like floods, hurricanes, and fires, which are increasing in frequency and intensity, are proving ever more destructive to human lives and livelihoods. Read More
Interview Brian Bruya on A Cure for Chaos April 21, 2025 C. C. Tsai is one of Asia鈥檚 most popular cartoonists, and his graphic editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. In A Cure for Chaos, he uses his virtuosic artistic skill and sly humor to create an entertaining and enlightening illustrated version of key selections from the Mencius, a profoundly influential work of Chinese philosophy. Read More
Essay When darkness still prevails: The authoritarian attack on truth April 17, 2025 鈥淎t no time in history have words meant so little as they do today,鈥� declared the philosopher John Dewey in 1941. Dewey, who at the time was one of America鈥檚 preeminent public intellectuals, was worried about what he called 鈥渃omplete inversions of truth鈥� by authoritarians and their sympathizers at home. Read More
Interview Ruth Braunstein on My Tax Dollars April 13, 2025 Ruth Braunstein maps the contested moral landscape in which Americans experience and make sense of the tax system. Read More
Interview Laurence D. Hurst on The Evolution of Imperfection April 08, 2025 Laurence D. Hurst, author of The Evolution of Imperfection talks about how understanding our genetic imperfections can change our view of evolution and enrich what it means to be human. Read More
Interview Maria LaMonaca Wisdom on How to Mentor Anyone in Academia April 07, 2025 Mentoring is integral to how academics are formed and what trajectories their careers will take. Yet until recently, no one was trained to do it, and many academics have ingrained assumptions about mentorship that no longer fit the lives, needs, and aspirations of mentees. Read More
Essay Raising the dead April 04, 2025 My fascination, indeed, my love of, death began in my childhood when my mum took me to the British Museum to see the mummies. Read More
Essay Unlocking the Middle East riddle April 03, 2025 The Middle East is a tinderbox. The convergence of military, economic, social and geopolitical crises makes this moment, one of the most dangerous periods in the modern history of the region, an inflection point. Read More
Interview Daniel Abel and Sophie Maycock on Shark: The Illustrated Biography March 20, 2025 Written by two experienced shark educators, scientists, and conservationists, "Shark: The Illustrated Biography" blends engaging profiles of selected species with captivating illustrations to offer an unparalleled exploration of the life and times of the shark. Read More
