Books
Has Nate Silver Forever Changed Statistics?
2012 WAS A good year for numbers in American presidential politics, but it also highlighted a collective squeamishness about statistics. By mid-October, New York Times number-cruncher Nate Silver found himself in a modern-day version of seventeenth-century Salem, with a long line of pitch-fork wielding poll-doubters accusing Silver of magic and wizardry. READ MORE >>
I Would Prefer Not To—What Paperwork Means in Modern Life
The Knife—The Sharp Poetry of Louise Glück
No Solid Homeland—Mid-century Travels Through America
How to Be a Pseudo-Intellectual
Wonders and Horrors—The Grimms’ Tales Turn 200
Gospel Truth—Colm Tóibín Reinvents Mary
Piety and Plenty: The Buying and Selling of Christmas
Editor’s Note: Especially for the holidays, we publish here Jackson Lears’s exceptional history of Christmas. Enjoy and happy holidays. READ MORE >>
Fantastic Voyage—The History of Travel Around the Earth
WHEN GEORGE ANSON returned from circumnavigating the globe in 1744, London wits had a field day. A brave and ruthless Royal Navy officer, Anson was also socially awkward and reputedly impotent. He had been all around the world but never in it, quipped one commentator. Much the same, remarked another unkindly, could be said of Anson’s relationship with his wife. READ MORE >>
