Essay Eros Affairs of State By William Rosen How the improbable marriage of an actress, courtesan, and daughter of an animal trainer to a Byzantine emperor dramatically changed the course of European history. More
Essay Communication Native Tongues By Simon Winchester The making of the Dictionary of American Regional English, a five-thousand-page, five-volume book documenting the history of American slang. More
Essay The Future Quack Prophet By Colin Dickey The prophecies of Nostradamus were cryptic and garbled—but they also let us see what we wanted to see. More
Essay Disaster Pressure Drop By Simon Winchester Exploring—and ignoring—climate chaos in the South Pacific. More
Essay Family A Harmony in Living By Garret Keizer Happy families are indeed all alike in calling forth the best of their members’ humanity. More
Essay Medicine Oath of Office By Richard Selzer A conversation between Richard Selzer & Peter Josyph on the origins of the Hippocratic Oath. More
Essay Migration Doctors Without Borders By Deirdre Mask On the Black doctors who received their medical degrees and a new sort of freedom in Europe. More
Essay Politics The Great Rift By Jeffrey Gettleman Jeffrey Gettleman on the 2007 Kenyan election crisis, and why in Kenya all politics is tribal. More
Essay Education Misdirectives By Ian Altman A public high school teacher asks why the wrong things cause a fuss in schools. More
