Essays
Do You Actually Have to Finish That Novel?
A critic considers the strange moral pressure we feel to read to the very last page
Michel Chaouli
The Body I Couldn't Abstract
Motherhood reshaped how I see shame, art, and the female body
Megan O’Grady
Browse
Essays
My Rosary
A priest from my childhood was convicted of embezzlement. Years later, he still informs my faith.
Nicholas Russell
November 27, 2024
The Role of the Modern Writer
In his work for The Yale Review, Thomas Mann grappled with an artist’s relationship to society
Morten Høi Jensen
November 21, 2024
The Apostle of Love
How Thomas Mann discovered sensual education in The Magic Mountain
Merve Emre
November 20, 2024
A Lost Future for the Middle East
Religious pluralism was a possibility after the Ottoman Empire. European colonialism changed that.
Ussama Makdisi
October 22, 2024
Facing America’s Social Crisis
The United States is at a turning point in economic policy. What happens next is crucial.
Nicholas Mulder
October 22, 2024
History Is Repeating Itself in Ukraine
Cycles of nationalism have existed for centuries. What do they reveal?
Andreas Wimmer
October 22, 2024
How the Radical Right Remade Nationalism
What happens when the central goal of politics becomes preserving national identity?
Suzanne Schneider
October 22, 2024
Why Han Kang’s Nobel Matters
My mother’s generation experienced unspeakable violence. Han found the words for it.
Yung In Chae
October 15, 2024
