Essay Travel Nowhere Need Be Foreign By Pico Iyer What should travel writing look like in a world where the global and local are more indistinguishable than ever? More
Essay Politics Trial by Fire By Anthony Grafton Hot gospelling preacher or savvy political operator? Reexamining the life and times of Girolamo Savonarola. More
Essay Swindle & Fraud We Buy Broken Gold By Clancy Martin Why would a wealthy diamond merchant in a three-thousand-dollar suit want to cheat me out of a hundred bucks’ worth of gold? More
Essay Crimes & Punishments Staking a Life By Christopher Hitchens Why is the United States so wedded to the infliction of the death penalty? More
Essay Food It’s What’s for Dinner By Scott Korb To be an ethical eater, one can no longer betray a deep ignorance about the workings of nature. More
Essay Memory Mortal Soul, Moral Soul By Anne Michaels What happens when private grief becomes common experience? More
Essay Climate In the Shadow of Caesar By Kyle Harper On the volcanic eruption that set an ominous stage for the death throes of the Roman Republic. More
Essay States of Mind The Person in the Ape By Ferris Jabr A history of humans trying and failing to understand the minds of apes. More
Essay Trade Maken Engelond Gret Ayeyn By Paul Strohm How the contest between free trade and protectionism sparked fervor and unrest in medieval England. More
Essay Philanthropy Treasure in Heaven By Peter Brown St. Augustine and other early Christians challenged the Roman idea of charity by invoking the ultimate authority—God. More
