Much ado about Shakespeare: A reading list January 16, 2026 Shakespeare is a cultural icon who had an outsized impact on literature and language, even shaping modern English with the introduction of new words and phrases. His writing is aesthetically complex, often blending genres and experimenting with forms. Over four centuries, his plays and poems have been read, performed, edited and debated, with every generation finding new meaning. Dive into a curated selection of our Shakespeare titles. Read More
Podcast On Democracy and Bullshit January 14, 2026 We’re continuing our series on philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s seminal work, On Bullshit. Our discussion with Hélène Landemore is on democracy and bullshit, with a special focus on her book, Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century. Read More
Interview Hanna Pickard on What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? January 09, 2026 What would you do alone in a cage with nothing but cocaine? Drawing on her expertise as an academic philosopher and her clinical work in a therapeutic community, Hanna Pickard explores the meaning of drugs for people with addiction and the diverse factors that keep them using despite the costs. Read More
Essay Thinking from the far south January 02, 2026 How do we see the world whole? We can start by looking at it through the lenses that southern writers and storytellers offer us. Read More
Essay Countering violence through never-ending tales January 02, 2026 Once upon a time, I thought that the foundation of Israel in 1948 would set an example of peace and good will on this troubled planet. Sadly, this has not occurred, and the decline of Israel as a model state has compelled me to do soul searching. Read More
Podcast What Do You Want Out of Life? December 17, 2025 What do you want out of life? To make a lot of money—or work for justice? To run marathons—or sing in a choir? To have children—or travel the world? The things we care about in life—family, friendship, leisure activities, work, our moral ideals—often conflict, preventing us from doing what matters most to us. Read More
Essay Civility in the age of Shakespeare December 16, 2025 A time of turmoil, riven with conflict, a deeply divided world in which opposing factions harbour nothing but contempt for other members of society—the early modern period bears a remarkable resemblance to our own. Read More
Podcast Everything Evolves December 10, 2025 Mark Vellend describes how all observable phenomena in the universe can be understood through two sciences. The first is physics. The second is the science of evolvable systems. Read More
Essay Minding our minds December 08, 2025 Roughly twenty-five centuries ago in northern India, the Buddha learned to watch his feelings in order to forge new kinds of relationships with them. Read More
Podcast How Progress Ends December 08, 2025 Carl Benedikt Frey challenges the conventional belief that economic and technological progress is inevitable. Read More
Podcast Safe Havens for Hate December 02, 2025 Content moderation on social media has become one of the most daunting challenges of our time. Nowhere is the need for action more urgent than in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Read More
Podcast Wound Man December 02, 2025 The Wound Man—a medical diagram depicting a figure fantastically pierced by weapons and ravaged by injuries and diseases—was reproduced widely across the medieval and early modern globe. Jack Hartnell charts the emergence and endurance of this striking image, used as a visual guide to the treatment of many ailments. Read More
Essay The Aztecs’ grammar of gratitude November 27, 2025 Forty years ago, I was deeply involved with a manuscript housed in the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. It was written in a language variously known as Aztec, Mexicano, and Nahuatl.? Each of these names carries a bit of truth. Read More
Podcast Death in a Shallow Pond November 24, 2025 From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein’s Poker, Death in a Shallow Pond is a fascinating account of Peter Singer’s controversial “drowning child” thought experiment—and how it changed the way people think about charitable giving. Read More
Podcast Taxation and Resentment November 21, 2025 Andrea Louise Campbell examines public opinion on taxation, exploring why what Americans favor in principle differs from what they accept in practice. Read More
