It’s easy to see what’s wrong with car culture. Fixing it is harder.
In "Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It," Daniel Knowles says a lot about how cars make life worse, and not enough about what to do about it.
By Peter C. BakerHow Vince McMahon and his wrestling empire explain America
In the revelatory biography “Ringmaster,” Abraham Riesman explores the strangely entwined worlds of Trump-era politics and the WWE.
By Zack RuskinThree decades after her sister’s murder, a writer seeks justice
In 1990, Liliana Rivera Garza was killed in Mexico. In “Liliana’s Invincible Summer” her sister, Cristina, sets out to figure out what happened.
By Erika L. SanchezHow we might stop the flood of data-driven misinformation
In “Distrust,” Gary Smith argues that science is being undone by the very tools that scientists developed. But he has a plan to change that.
By Abby OhlheiserThe books I read to understand the Vietnam War
Fifty years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, these stories live on.
By Eric NguyenVietnam’s toxic legacy continues, and Agent Orange looms large
“The Long Reckoning,” by George Black, focuses on the ongoing work of public accountability and private penance for America’s mess.
By Steven V. RobertsWhat a new book gets wrong about Picasso’s time in France
In ‘Picasso the Foreigner,’ Annie Cohen-Solal offers an ambitious but misguided interpretation of the great Spanish artist’s life.
By Hugh EakinAs Saigon fell, a young banker went on a desperate mission
Ralph White’s “Getting Out of Saigon” recalls the chaos and delusions that stood in the way of his efforts to evacuate Chase Manhattan’s Vietnamese employees.
By Mark Atwood Lawrence‘Birchers,’ a well-told, familiar entry in the ‘how we got to Trump’ genre
In his history of the John Birch Society, Matthew Dallek says Republicans allowed the extreme fringe to “eventually cannibalize the entire party.”
By Sam Adler-BellExploring the crowds that gather for Trump — and dream of civil war
In ‘The Undertow,’ Jeff Sharlet examines the anger powering American politics today.
By Adam Fleming Petty‘Armageddon’ reads the Book of Revelation with fresh eyes
Bart Ehrman reads the Book of Revelation in context, and offers a tour of historical reactions to it -- it wasn't until the 1830s that it was considered a timeline for the end.
By David DarkA White woman re-creates the lives of her Black ancestors
Rachel Jamison Webster’s family history, “Benjamin Banneker and Us,” is a thoughtful blend of research, conversation and imagination.
By Maud NewtonExplaining spiritual experiences through a scientific lens
In “The Transcendent Brain,” Alan Lightman argues that profound moments in his life have nothing to do with religion — only atoms.
By Denis AlexanderSometimes it’s too much! But the exclamation point has a point.
A history — and defense — of emphatic punctuation.
By Florence HazratBorders can be spaces of wonder — if you have the right passport
In "The Edge of the Plain," James Crawford explores the way that borders at once keep us apart and make us who we are.
By Kanishk TharoorWhy are so many Americans poor? Because we allow it, two books argue.
Sociologists Mark Robert Rank and Matthew Desmond examine the attitudes and policies that keep poverty entrenched.
By Timothy NoahDuring the revolution, New York City burned. Who set the fires?
In “The Great New York Fire of 1776,” Benjamin L. Carp argues that Americans, not the British, deliberately started the blaze.
By Robert G. KaiserKara Goucher and Lauren Fleshman reveal what’s wrong with women’s running
Two top athletes, Lauren Fleshman and Kara Goucher, write about competing in an environment rife with failings.
By Mythili G. RaoBallet begins with a dream. Too often, it turns into a nightmare.
Alice Robb’s "Don’t Think, Dear" is a feminist interrogation of ballet.
By Kimberly SchayeAdam Gopnik tries to master drawing, driving, dancing and boxing
Adam Gopnik investigates the mystery of mastery by attempting to learn to draw, box, dance and drive.
By Tom Vanderbilt