Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

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Anne Carson’s roaming imagination

The new Nobel laureate has made a virtue of crossing boundaries and expanding the reach of the lyric sensibility.

Jared Marcel Pollen October 12, 2026

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The Kremlin’s problem with plague is nothing new

Russia’s rulers have long met outbreaks of disease with secrecy, at catastrophic cost to their own citizens. The official response to a plague researcher’s death in Siberia follows..

Paul Josephson October 12, 2026

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Ukraine’s experiment with foreign reformers

Kyiv’s unorthodox approach to reforming its public institutions has been to bring in experts from outside. But they will only have an impact if given the right powers.

Kseniya Sotnikova October 9, 2026

High school pupils occupy the statue in Place de la Nation in Paris.

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France’s riots: revolution without utopia

France’s riots may carry echoes of 1789 and 1968, and of a long tradition of taking to the streets, but they are also the product of a stranger, more troubling side of contemporary..

Muriel Zagha October 8, 2026

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Eva Marie Saint’s stolen glances

Her performance as Eve Kendall in ‘North by Northwest’, Alfred Hitchcock’s unique, surreal masterpiece, will never be forgotten.

David Thomson October 8, 2026

Map of Middle Earth from 'The Lord of the Rings'.

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Tolkien for the unconverted

DJ Taylor's meditation on the author of 'The Lord of the Rings' is incisive and thoughtful, even for those left cold by Middle-earth.

Paul Lay October 7, 2026

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Moscow is watching Latvia. Is Washington?

A record victory for Latvia’s pro-Ukraine prime minister was accompanied by a surge for populist parties in the country’s lowest-ever general election turnout.

Gordon F. Sander October 6, 2026

'Night Rain at Ōyama' from a 19th-century Japanese woodblock.

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Why AI translation is no substitute for learning a language

AI-powered earbuds that translate in real time are remarkable tools. But doing the hard work of learning another language offers something more: a new way of seeing the world.

Caitlin Allen October 5, 2026

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, presidential candidate of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party, speaks during a campaign rally in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Xinhua

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Is Latin America’s pink tide ebbing in Brazil?

The Brazilian election is being viewed as a referendum on Donald Trump’s ability to reel in Latin America’s largest economy and last major left-wing holdout.

Stephen G. Bloom October 2, 2026