Is Money the Root of All Good?
A celebrated philosopher wonders if everything we believe about money is all wrong.
James Williams
With the Holiday Shopping Season Rapidly Approaching, Is the Ancient Virtue of Frugality Possible?
Contemporary "frugalists" are only playing at a virtue that previous generations practiced, willingly or not, to an unenviable degree.
The Market Knows All and Sees All
Renowned theologian Harvey Cox examines contemporary belief and modern America gods: Market, DOW, Nasdaq, and more in The Market As God.
Whatever the Future May Hold, Paper Has a Rich History
The Paper Trail makes the case that paper is one of history's most revolutionary technologies even as its contemporary importance fades.
Is Religion Really the Root of Human Violence?
In a vast survey of human history and religion, Karen Armstrong insists that the link between religion and violence is greatly exaggerated.
Steven Pinker Wants You to Write Well — and He Thinks He’s the Guy to Teach You
The prolific scholar and linguist Steven Pinker adds a volume to the already crowded field of grammar and usage guides. But does he have anything new to say?
Lost in ‘The Vorrh’
The Vorrh is almost certainly unlike anything you have read before, but is it worth the considerable effort required to traverse its many pages?
America Has a Fever and the Only Cure Is Poetry
In Twenty Poems That Could Save America and Other Essays, Tony Hoagland makes a compelling case that poetry is just what America needs, so long as it's the right kind of poetry.
Why You Have No Idea What Your Favorite Characters Look Like
Celebrated book designer Peter Mendelsund considers how readers construct (or fail to construct) visual images in their minds in What We See When We Read.
The Words That Maketh Murder
David Bromwich's Moral Imagination Is an exploration of the relationship between the America national consciousness and political discourse.
Puritans, Wendigos, and Hillbillies, Oh My!
The Rural Gothic in American Popular Culture examines the persistent fear of rural places and their inhabitants in the American collective consciousness.
Will Yet Another Scholarly Trip to Walden Yield Any New Truths?
This vigorous interdisciplinary approach brings a revealing new perspective to a well-worn classic of American literature.