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Hospitality’s ancient origins
Once a sacred duty, hospitality was also a test of how societies welcomed strangers.
Zachary Hardman
April 29, 2026
Notebooks
Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.
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The return of Obama nationalism
The chaos of the Trump Administration and a coming intergenerational transfer of wealth to millennials may revive Obama-style technocracy, shorn of progressive excesses.
Sumantra Maitra
April 29, 2026
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Humanity’s undying quest for immortality
The desire to avoid death has grown into a vast industry. Yet the truth is, we have already created a form of immortality. It just isn't human.
Bryan Appleyard
April 28, 2026
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What King James can teach Charles III about diplomacy
Against a backdrop of war in Europe and the Middle East, and fraying Anglo-American relations, Charles would do well to emulate the canny diplomacy of his predecessor.
Eloise Davies
April 28, 2026
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The ideal garden of the Ancien Régime
Under Louis XIV, the jardin à la française, with its straight lines, geometric shapes and clear boundaries, made nature subordinate to man.
Muriel Zagha
April 28, 2026
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Chernobyl and the price of nuclear hubris
Advocates of a nuclear ‘renaissance’ should remember the Soviet Union’s horrendous failures.
Paul Josephson
April 22, 2026
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Iran targets its diaspora
As the Islamic Republic faces crisis at home, it seeks to assert tighter control over an increasingly vocal Iranian diaspora in the West.
Kasra Aarabi and Saeid Golkar
April 20, 2026
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Why Israel is losing America
By refusing to bring his wars to a close, Benjamin Netanyahu is placing the vital partnership between the United States and Israel in grave peril.
Marc Polymeropoulos
April 16, 2026
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The unravelling of Indonesia’s middleman economy
Indonesia built an economy rooted in mercantile trade, leaving it vulnerable in a world that increasingly cuts out the middleman. Yet it may be too late to become a nation of maker..
Rayhan Prabu
April 15, 2026