THE DEMON OF UNREST: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, by Erik LarsonThe Civil War is one hell of a drug. It’s plentiful and Main Street-legal, but can induce hallucinatory visions when mixed with inflammatory substances. ... More »
Kimberly Jolasun, a 32-year-old entrepreneur in Atlanta, has never voted for the Republican candidate for the presidency. That may be about to change.Her company, Villie, is an online platform that lets new parents share photos and updates about their babies w... More »
Kirill Gerstein’s immense recording project “Music in Time of War” surveys works by artists who witnessed World War I and the Armenian genocide.Kirill Gerstein, a Soviet-born pianist whose parents sold their only proper asset — a garage — so that they could af... More »
The first alcoholic drink I had was a lemon Hooch in a gay club called the Palm Beach in south London in 1991. For the first time in my life the anxiety and self-consciousness I thought was just my personality melted away. A decades-long whirlwind of partying,... More »
Our columnist reviews this month’s latest scary releases.If you want to read a novel that feels like a puzzle, look no further than Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s ORACLE (Tor Nightfire, 376 pp., $29.99). The novel, which is translated from the Dutch by Moshe Gilula, op... More »
Wenyan Lu’s novel, “The Funeral Cryer,” explores a Chinese tradition through a modern, more personal lens.THE FUNERAL CRYER, by Wenyan LuEvery year or so, a version of the same article will come across my social media feeds, having gone freshly viral among a c... More »
REAL AMERICANS, by Rachel KhongAs the story goes, after the death of China’s first emperor in 210 B.C., Chen Sheng, a military captain, organized a motley band of soldiers in a revolt against the Qin dynasty and its harsh penal laws. Sheng was defeated, but he... More »
Slippers supplied by hotels — flimsy models usually made of plastic and fabric — are the next single-use item in the cross hairs of sustainability activists.In November, managers at the Arenas del Mar resort near Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica, cha... More »
The World Health Organization has issued a report that transforms how the world understands respiratory infections like Covid, influenza and measles.Motivated by grave missteps in the pandemic, the WHO convened about 50 experts in virology, epidemiology, aeros... More »
Politics/ April 30, 2024I come asking with brother Marvin Gaye, “What’s going on? What’s going on?”Ad PolicyThe Rev. Dr. William Barber, cochair of the Poor People’s Campaign, speaks at the National Call for Moral Revival Rally at the US Supr... More »
Culture/Books & the ArtsIn the 1930s, the United States produced a too-brief proletarian literary movement and at the center of it was Jack Conroy.In the midst of the Depression, Conroy helped encourage a new generation of working-class writers. ... More »
Politics/ April 30, 2024While we cannot change the world with dreams alone, moral ideas can inspire people to come together and change their societies for the better.Ad PolicyJohn Rawls in 1987. (Frederic Reglain / Gammo-Rapho via Getty Image... More »