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When America lost access to German dyes, the crisis revealed a startling truth: color was chemical, tactical, and essential to warfare.
Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman contends that our modern sense of altruism can be traced back to the radical shift in ethical thinking sparked by Jesus' teachings.
In this preview, the Stanford professor muses on how emergence, arriving at complex patterns from simple parts, explains AI, brains, and life itself.
A preview of the latest book by Chinese history expert Charlotte Brooks
Skim or scan this. No need to deep-read.
Anne Lamott and Neal Allen join us to discuss why embracing constraints can be the best way to find freedom in the craft.
In this excerpt from Separation of Powers, Cass Sunstein explains how the U.S. Constitution prevents such a concentration of authority from turning democracy into despotism.
In this excerpt from Wired on Wall Street, Tom Hardin (aka "Tipper X") shares how he began gathering intelligence on insider trading for the FBI.
What’s in a number? Only a vanishingly small slice of your life, it turns out.
Why the link between understanding customers and retaining them is forged from emotional connection.
In this excerpt from The Intimate Animal, Justin Garcia shows why curiosity and self-disclosure — not attraction alone — help build intimacy and sustain it over time.
Writer and media theorist Bogna Konior connects cosmos and computer by reconsidering our eerily silent Universe.
In this excerpt from Think Like a Mathematician, Junaid Mubeen explains how tiny actions can shape complex systems, revealing the limits of prediction and control in our lives.
Liz Tran makes the case for a new kind of intelligence that addresses our ability to handle today’s ever-fluctuating challenges: AQ.
In this excerpt from Flourish, Daniel Coyle shares how stillness, presence, and attention help people build meaningful connections.
Why we should balance innovation with stewardship — while reframing the “techno-optimists versus doomers” polarization.
Too many rich and prominent people turn out to be egotistical jerks: Brad Stulberg argues for a more grounded path towards excellence.
Tara Narula shares how journalist Richard Cohen challenged conventional ideas about illness, identity, and strength while living with MS.
A tour of the literary cover-ups, extraterrestrials, and cryptids lurking in the bookish backwoods.
The deep study of friction and surfaces — so crucial to industrial manufacture — emerged from a mid-century engineering conference.
Joel Miller, the author of “The Idea Machine,” joins us to explore why books are history’s most successful information technology.
Time blocking is a remarkable technique for ensuring your daily actions are guided forward by your overarching goals and intentions. Here’s how to supercharge it.
Psychologist Chris Moore reveals why guilt and anxiety lead us to the compassion necessary to earn forgiveness.
Bryan Washington, author of “Palaver,” reflects on how moving to Japan and learning a new language shaped his writing.
In this excerpt from "Strange Stability," Benjamin Wilson explores how the concept of "deterrence" went from explaining criminal behavior to becoming a nuclear strategy.
In this excerpt from "The Great Math War," Jason Socrates Bardi explores how Georg Cantor revolutionized mathematics and reshaped how our finite minds conceived of the infinite.
The greatest companies navigate change at speed and make it stick at scale. Here’s how IBM started that journey in 2012.
Fibonacci’s "Liber Abaci" not only revolutionized commerce — it also helped nudge the world towards reasoned, quantitative enquiry.
A preview of the latest novel by the National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson.