You can hardly scan the top stories on the news these days without coming across am article about some new breakthrough discovery in science or medicine. And, chances are, you’re lucky to get through the third paragraph without becoming totally befuddled by the complexity and jargon of the story. It’s…

The surprises start on page three. “If one of our distant ancestors hadn’t been infected by a virus hundreds of millions of years ago,” Jonathan Kennedy writes, “humans would reproduce by laying eggs.” In Pathogenesis, Professor Kennedy sketches the often-decisive role of infectious diseases from the emergence of life on…

The seemingly unstoppable orgy of murder called the Holocaust probably didn’t end when or how you thought it did. What really happened has come to light in mutually inconsistent accounts in some of the books written about World War II’s final months. But, as best I can tell, none…

In the four seasons of the award-winning HBO drama Succession, the sons and daughter of billionaire media mogul Logan Roy fight like children in a sandbox for their father’s favor — and the nod to succeed him in controlling the family business. Now, in a brilliant new book by two…

The surprises start on page three. “If one of our distant ancestors hadn’t been infected by a virus hundreds of millions of years ago,” Jonathan Kennedy writes, “humans would reproduce by laying eggs.” In Pathogenesis, Professor Kennedy sketches the often-decisive role of infectious diseases from the emergence of life on…

Thousands of books and millions of words have been written about the tit-for-tat battle of the KGB and the CIA during the more than four decades of the Cold War. Some factual accounts and a smattering of novels offer genuine perspective on the two spy agencies and their interaction. But…

War makes no sense. Yet if any single thing defines the human experience, it may be the tendency of tribes and organized states alike to rush to arms against those they perceive as enemies. For example, the United States has been engaged in military action almost from the day the…

You probably don’t need another terrifying book about the climate crisis to convince you that global “warming” is real. Chances are, you’ve known that for years. Or, at the very least, it became clear to you from the recurring floods, killer storms, and deadly heat waves that have struck in…

Chances are, you’ve never heard of the guy who was famously called America’s Banana King. But if you’re not aware of some of the things he’s done, you’ll never be a big winner on Jeopardy or pass an AP test in modern world history. …