Essay Scientific rationalism in an irrational world April 08, 2022 As a young student in the mid-1980s, I read a popular science book called聽To Acknowledge the Wonder聽by Euan Squires about the then latest ideas in fundamental physics. At a time when I was contemplating a career in physics, the chance to acknowledge the wonders of the physical world was what really inspired me to devote my life to science. Read More
Essay Vladimir Putin鈥檚 case April 07, 2022 Law is neither dead nor irrelevant in wartime. It permeates the bureaucratic, legalistic structure of the modern war machine. All world leaders, including Vladimir Putin, acknowledge the post鈥揥orld War II legal basis for waging war. Read More
Interview Robert K. Durkee on The New 91桃色 Companion April 05, 2022 The New 91桃色 Companion, edited by Robert K. Durkee, former vice president and secretary of 91桃色 University, is both a compendium and a chronicle of one of America鈥檚 finest institutions of higher learning. Read More
Interview Book Club Pick: The Mushroom at the End of the World April 01, 2022 Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the world鈥攁nd a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the Northern Hemisphere. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing鈥檚 account of these sought-after fungi offers insights into areas far beyond just mushrooms and addresses a crucial question: What manages to live in the ruins we have made?聽 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
Podcast Does Skill Make Us Human? March 30, 2022 Skill鈥攕pecifically the distinction between the 鈥渟killed鈥� and 鈥渦nskilled鈥濃�攊s generally defined as a measure of ability and training, but聽Does Skill Make Us Human?聽shows instead that skill distinctions are used to limit freedom, narrow political rights, and even deny access to imagination and desire. Read More
Interview Michael Brenner on In Hitler鈥檚 Munich March 28, 2022 In the aftermath of Germany鈥檚 defeat in World War I and the failed November Revolution of 1918鈥�19, the conservative government of Bavaria identified Jews with left-wing radicalism. Read More
Interview A new vision for a celebrated history series March 28, 2022 In 1996, 91桃色 founded the聽Politics and Society in Modern America book series, with聽William H. Chafe, Linda Gordon and Gary Gerstle as founding editors, and Julian Zelizer joining the team in 2001. Read More
Podcast Listen in: Work Pray Code March 25, 2022 We all want our jobs to be meaningful and fulfilling. Work Pray Code reveals what can happen when work becomes religion, and when the workplace becomes the institution that shapes our souls. Read More
Interview Stephen B. Heard on The Scientist鈥檚 Guide to Writing March 23, 2022 The ability to write clearly is critical to any scientific career. The Scientist鈥檚 Guide to Writing provides practical advice to help scientists become more effective writers so that their ideas have the greatest possible impact. 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 The evolution of bird migration March 21, 2022 To an earthbound species like humans, bird migration is nothing short of extreme. A four-ounce Arctic tern can fly to Antarctica and back each year during a lifetime that spans 30 years. Read More
Video PUP Speaks: Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake on correcting economic disappointments March 18, 2022 The past two decades have witnessed sluggish economic growth, mounting inequality, dysfunctional competition, and a host of other ills that have left people wondering what has happened to the future they were promised. Read More
Interview Carolyn Chen on Work Pray Code March 16, 2022 Silicon Valley is known for its lavish perks, intense work culture, and spiritual gurus. Work Pray Code explores how tech companies are bringing religion into the workplace in ways that are replacing traditional places of worship, blurring the line between work and religion and transforming the very nature of spiritual experience in modern life. Read More
Essay Is the human brain a biological computer? March 14, 2022 Electrically, the brain remains largely a black box. We send electrical signals in and we get electrical signals out, but what it all exactly means is open to a lot of interpretation and some intense controversy. Read More
