Interview Adam Sutcliffe on What Are Jews For? July 02, 2020 What is the purpose of Jews in the world? The Bible singles out the Jews as God鈥檚 鈥渃hosen people,鈥� but the significance of this special status has been understood in many different ways over the centuries.聽 Read More
Video A brush with nature: Alexander von Humboldt and Frederic Church June 30, 2020 What made Alexander von Humboldt a superstar in the 1800s was聽Cosmos, his global best-selling, multi-volume series on his scientific observations and international travels. Read More
Essay Fighting the deportation machine June 24, 2020 Javier Garc铆a Bautista had not been at his station for long on May 17 when someone in the carpentry department of the suburban-Los Angeles shoe factory where he worked yelled out, 鈥淭he migra is here!鈥� Read More
Essay All at sea: The maritime lives of the ancient Phoenicians June 23, 2020 The Phoenicians were, according to one ancient scholar, 鈥榯he first to plough the sea鈥�. The little ports of the Bronze Age Levant, including Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, lay between the great empires of Egypt, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. Read More
Essay A belief in meritocracy is not only false: it鈥檚 bad for you June 22, 2020 Meritocracy has become a leading social ideal. Politicians across the ideological spectrum continually return to the theme that the rewards of life鈥攎oney, power, jobs, university admission鈥攕hould be distributed according to skill and effort. Read More
Essay Keep cool and keep writing June 21, 2020 Editors, amongst many other tasks, are daily faced with the challenge of persuading or pressuring authors to write or finish books. When COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders went into effect and I found myself, in addition to being an editor, also suddenly a home-schooling teacher, little did I know that those skills might be transferable. Read More
Essay By Design | The 2020 AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show June 18, 2020 A book鈥檚 design communicates to readers before the book even has a chance to. It tells us something essential. The most successful book design goes a step further: it compels us to hold the book in our hands for a little while, turn it over, leaf through it, and admire its form. Read More
Essay Masada: A heroic last stand against Rome June 17, 2020 Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children reportedly chose to take their own lives rather than suffer enslavement or death at the hands of the Roman army. Read More
Essay Do we have the government we need for the problem of the century? June 16, 2020 Orlando might be America鈥檚 tourist epicenter, and it鈥檚 working mightily to reopen. But it鈥檚 one thing to open the doors. It鈥檚 quite another to convince people to travel and walk through. Read More
Essay Recording audiobooks under lockdown June 11, 2020 When lockdown began to take effect in March 2020, publishers and authors across the world had to make rapid adjustments to our plans for our books, not only to keep publishing, but also to keep our colleagues and partners safe and healthy. Read More
Essay Why is Einstein still so alive? June 10, 2020 In the title of his keynote address at a conference to investigate Einstein鈥檚 impact on science, culture, and the public-political discourse at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Gerald Holton, a pioneer of Einstein scholarship in the historical and philosophical context, asked why Einstein is still so alive. Read More
Interview Eric H. Cline on Digging Up Armageddon June 09, 2020 In 1925, James Henry Breasted, famed Egyptologist and director of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, sent a team of archaeologists to the Holy Land to excavate the ancient site of Megiddo鈥擜rmageddon in the New Testament鈥攚hich the Bible says was fortified by King Solomon. Read More
Essay Why protests matter in American democracy June 02, 2020 As protests continue nationwide in honor of George Floyd and to express outrage with systemic racism, it remains to be seen how the current civil unrest will shape democracy long term, and impact voting in the fall. Read More
Essay Mysteries of the first mastodon May 29, 2020 Bones from the last ice age might be standard for a natural history conservator, but it鈥檚 not the norm at an art museum. Read More
Interview Emily Sigalow on American JewBu May 27, 2020 May is Jewish American Heritage month, and it is worth noting that today, many Jewish Americans are embracing a dual religious identity, for instance, practicing Buddhism while also staying connected to their Jewish roots. Read More
