“My Dearest James”: Agha Shahid Ali and James Merrill
March 15, 2023
Manan Kapoor— Sometime in the 1990s, Agha Shahid Ali wrote a poem about the Bosnian War and sent it to James Merrill, who responded: “There is nothing that you can… READ MORE
Category: Essays
The Difference a Single Verse Can Make
March 14, 2023
David Bentley Hart— When I first set out to translate the New Testament, my aim was to return as faithfully as possible to the original Greek, and to its ambiguities…. READ MORE
The Tripolar Problem
March 13, 2023
Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr.— The past year has witnessed the continuing decline in U.S.-China relations. Last February, Chinese president Xi Jinping declared his friendship with Vladimir Putin had “no limits,”… READ MORE
Women Had to Fight the Idea of “Woman” Before They Could Gain a Political Voice
March 1, 2023
Lillian Faderman— On March 1, 2022, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress and 38.2 million T.V. viewers. Seated at… READ MORE
New Directions Toward a Clean Energy Future
February 23, 2023
Daniel S. Cohan— After reaffirming the Paris Agreement on his first day in office, President Biden in November 2021 issued a national strategy for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by… READ MORE
Why Dance Matters II. Balanchine: First Thoughts Retrieved
February 10, 2023
Mindy Aloff— Nancy Reynolds, while still a teenager, was invited to join New York City Ballet (NYCB), where she performed for George Balanchine as a member of the corps de… READ MORE
Oscar Hammerstein II: Works Well With Others
February 3, 2023
Laurie Winer— I had gotten my Library of Congress ID card, but I did not have an appointment with anyone in particular at the Music Division, the large research room… READ MORE
Burning Pitch: Telling a New Story of 1776
January 31, 2023
Benjamin L. Carp— When you write a book, you have to promote it. When you promote a book, they ask you to pitch ideas to news outlets. When you pitch… READ MORE
The Age of Dionysus
January 30, 2023
Robert D. Kaplan— Many hope and believe that the murderous autocratic regimes in Russia and Iran must eventually give way to democracy. But it may be a long struggle. I… READ MORE
Why Dance Matters I. Animation Unbound
January 23, 2023
Mindy Aloff— I first saw the “street dancer” known as Storyboard P in a solo called “Dream Chaser,” in 2013, at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, in a performance during the U.S…. READ MORE
The Musics of Michel Leiris