All articles from Arts & Letters Daily
Edward Gorey’s macabre art is enigmatic, allusive, silly, somber, and haunted by the miseries of childhood
Edward Gorey’s macabre art is enigmatic, allusive, silly, somber, and haunted by the miseries of childhood
Anthony Appiah: “I don’t think encouraging people to resent everything they think is a moral mistake made by everybody else is a good way to prepare yourself for a happy life”
Anthony Appiah: “I don’t think encouraging people to resent everything they think is a moral mistake made by everybody else is a good way to prepare yourself for a happy life”
Luigi Pirandello is a half-forgotten castaway of European letters. Are we living in his world?
Luigi Pirandello is a half-forgotten castaway of European letters. Are we living in his world?
“Schopenhauer wanted to outdo Hegel in intellectual grandeur, but his work has a cracker-barrel quality to it”
“Schopenhauer wanted to outdo Hegel in intellectual grandeur, but his work has a cracker-barrel quality to it”
The AI era might spur political revolt, but it will certainly spur a battle over who owns the infrastructure of intelligent thought
The AI era might spur political revolt, but it will certainly spur a battle over who owns the infrastructure of intelligent thought
Tolkien’s reading of Beowulf, and his ability to blend the epic with the novel, fiction and scholarship, shaped his sense of story
Tolkien’s reading of Beowulf, and his ability to blend the epic with the novel, fiction and scholarship, shaped his sense of story
Music can calm, soothe, and delight. It can also provoke, disturb, bite. And for that, you need dissonance
Music can calm, soothe, and delight. It can also provoke, disturb, bite. And for that, you need dissonance
What explains the success of Colson Whitehead, Jennifer Egan, and Kazuo Ishiguro? Publishers want literary fiction that looks like genre fiction
What explains the success of Colson Whitehead, Jennifer Egan, and Kazuo Ishiguro? Publishers want literary fiction that looks like genre fiction
Two millennia ago, a few hundred people convened in an Anatolian backwater. They created the core doctrine of orthodox Christianity
Two millennia ago, a few hundred people convened in an Anatolian backwater. They created the core doctrine of orthodox Christianity
A biological conundrum: Why didn’t intelligent life appear on the earth sooner?
A biological conundrum: Why didn’t intelligent life appear on the earth sooner?
In both medieval Christianity and Islam, the moon loomed as a potent symbol in versatile and radical ways
In both medieval Christianity and Islam, the moon loomed as a potent symbol in versatile and radical ways
Alice B. Toklas after Gertrude Stein. “Without Baby, there is no direction to anything — it’s just milling around in the dark”
Alice B. Toklas after Gertrude Stein. “Without Baby, there is no direction to anything — it’s just milling around in the dark”
When Camus died in a car crash, he was carrying a return train ticket. "The greatest proponent of absurdism suffered an absurd death"
When Camus died in a car crash, he was carrying a return train ticket. "The greatest proponent of absurdism suffered an absurd death"
The strange afterlife of Hannah Arendt. When she died, no one mistook her for a major thinker. Why the post-mortem canonization?
The strange afterlife of Hannah Arendt. When she died, no one mistook her for a major thinker. Why the post-mortem canonization?
“What if the identity politics undergirding “left ‘cancel culture’” was always pretty much the same as the identity politics of offended Christians?”
“What if the identity politics undergirding “left ‘cancel culture’” was always pretty much the same as the identity politics of offended Christians?”
The world’s first AI actress. With British sass and messy hair, “Tilly Norwood” is landing film deals in the $10-50 million range
The world’s first AI actress. With British sass and messy hair, “Tilly Norwood” is landing film deals in the $10-50 million range
John Updike produced upward of 25,000 letters in his lifetime, an almost exhaustive account of one man’s pleasures
John Updike produced upward of 25,000 letters in his lifetime, an almost exhaustive account of one man’s pleasures
What was love in the 12th century? What was anger in ancient Egypt? We take emotions as universal and immutable — but what if they aren’t?
What was love in the 12th century? What was anger in ancient Egypt? We take emotions as universal and immutable — but what if they aren’t?
With warm, gentle stories populated by cats, tea, and rain, “cozy lit” has arrived with a waft of hypnotic passivity
With warm, gentle stories populated by cats, tea, and rain, “cozy lit” has arrived with a waft of hypnotic passivity
Francis Crick was no reclusive genius. He was loud and charismatic, a philandering poetry lover with an affinity for risque parties
Francis Crick was no reclusive genius. He was loud and charismatic, a philandering poetry lover with an affinity for risque parties
Maybe you’ve mulled activism v. performative activism or masculinity v. performative masculinity. But what about performative reading?
Maybe you’ve mulled activism v. performative activism or masculinity v. performative masculinity. But what about performative reading?
Want an antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense? Read philosophy of science
Want an antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense? Read philosophy of science
What’s investors’ hope for humanoid robots? They become a $65 trillion market and replace all human labor
What’s investors’ hope for humanoid robots? They become a $65 trillion market and replace all human labor
We live in a state of epistemic anarchy. A return to elite gatekeeping won't work. Is the only hope to persuade the misinformed?
We live in a state of epistemic anarchy. A return to elite gatekeeping won't work. Is the only hope to persuade the misinformed?
Suffering from severe apathy? Your laziness may have a neurological cause
Suffering from severe apathy? Your laziness may have a neurological cause
Elias Canetti saw death as a cosmic offense, an intolerable humiliation. As he reframed Descartes, “I hate death, therefore I am”
Elias Canetti saw death as a cosmic offense, an intolerable humiliation. As he reframed Descartes, “I hate death, therefore I am”
To understand the essential dramas of social and political life today, look no further than the strange and horny terrain of romantasy
To understand the essential dramas of social and political life today, look no further than the strange and horny terrain of romantasy
“Good literature and good gossip have in common that they are both savagely and mortifyingly honest”
“Good literature and good gossip have in common that they are both savagely and mortifyingly honest”
To read Czeslaw Milosz's World War II-era poems is to engage a man thinking about hope — what sustains it, and what happens when it's lost
To read Czeslaw Milosz's World War II-era poems is to engage a man thinking about hope — what sustains it, and what happens when it's lost