Tim Brinkhof

Tim Brinkhof

Tim Brinkhof

Tim Brinkhof is a Dutch-born, New York-based journalist reporting on art, history, and literature. He studied early Netherlandish painting and Slavic literature at New York University, worked as an editorial assistant for Film Comment magazine, and has written for Esquire, Film & History, History Today, and History News Network. 

A man standing next to a boat made of bananas at Uros.
The Uros of Lake Titicaca live on floating islands made from reeds. How did they get there?
The golden Buddha statue at McDonald's towering beside the iconic McDonald's sign.
Adrie Kusserow, an anthropologist and scholar of Buddhism, shares how her study of the religion and its history has reshaped her view of the world — and herself.
A model of the Colossus depicting the grandeur of ancient Rome.
Archaeologist Bernard Frischer spent decades uploading the ruins of the Eternal City to the cloud. Here’s what it looks like.
A man in a military uniform wearing a hat resembling Napoleon.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a man of many faces. European historian Michael Broers explains which are featured on the silver screen and why.
A bust of Marcus Aurelius placed next to a clock.
Like many of us, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius hated waking up early, but his stoic philosophy always helped him get out of bed.
A somber painting of a man standing alone in a tranquil field.
Omer Bartov, who spent decades studying the unspeakable horrors of genocide, shares how his studies have impacted his own mental health.
A painting presents a group of people at a table, leaving room for interpretation and inviting viewers to formulate hypotheses about their interactions and relationships.
A sober look at a wild conspiracy theory that argues the Middle Ages never happened.
A piece of wood with words written on it, discovered near Vesuvius.
The volcano’s historic eruption preserved an ancient library, but rendered its content illegible. A public competition aims to change that.
Two navajo men in military uniforms working on a radio.
The tonal Native American language differentiates words based on pitch and makes Spanish conjugation look like child’s play.
A painting of a woman and two children.
You've certainly seen the paintings — but they don't depict what you think they do. Benjamin Moser discusses with Big Think.
Roman dictator
Long before the birth of Julius Caesar, the Roman Republic appointed all-powerful dictators to protect their state in times of crisis. They were remarkably self-restrained and obedient to the Roman Constitution.
A Zen-inspired painting of a group of apples on a table.
'Six Persimmons,' an ink painting by the Chinese monk Mu Qi, has long been hailed as the poster child of Zen Buddhism. But is its reputation deserved?
A Strauss-Howe inspired painting depicting the bond between a woman and a boy.
An influential series of books argues that the history of the world is the history of generations. Is it right?
An illustration of a non-human main character, a fox, with birds on a branch.
See the world through the eyes of a horse — or a cake pan.
ancient technology
These astounding inventions show that civilizations of the past were a lot more advanced than we might have thought.
A painting of a group of people in the Tikal cave.
Tikal, one of the biggest cities the Maya ever built, was home to a vast and flourishing society.
A man sitting in a chair next to a woman, pondering Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy.
The great philosopher spent the final portion of his painful life in a vegetative state. Did illness get him there, or was it his own philosophy?
Artist, portrait
Once at the pinnacle of Amsterdam’s art scene, Rembrandt van Rijn eventually found himself outcompeted by his own students.
A famous black and white painting.
Rejecting romanticism, these famous paintings depict war as it really is: sadistic and senseless.
A Mercedes Benz parked in front of a building in Beijing, China.
China has always been one of the world’s wealthiest nations, but Chinese wealth looks different across the country’s eventful history.