Readings

Humans will debate just about anything; whether their positions stand up to any sort of external scrutiny is often of secondary concern. Don't believe us? Take a look at this diagram.

The most overconfident among us may not be willfully delusional: inherent cognitive laziness or built-in defense mechanisms may be to blame. But even accidentally inflated egos can influence others.

Like musicians whose songs you might instinctively call "angular" or "twee," the singer's debut album strikes immediately as "atmospheric"—whatever that means.

Matt Bai's All the Truth Is Out helps answer a baffling question: why do Americans care so much about the minutiae of their leaders' lives?

Kerry Howley's debut book, Thrown, seems to fit into the tradition of the intellectual approaching a violent subculture with anthropological curiosity. Where it differs is in its uncommon empathy.

The author of Adult Onset on parenthood, trauma, and geeking out on psychoanalytic theory.

On struggling after graduating, trying to get your parents off your back, and tolerating your partner's unsavory past.

Figuring out the force behind Taylor Swift's new song, one component part at a time.

Steven Soderbergh's turn-of-the-last-century medical drama is obsessed with modernity—what it means to step out of history's shadow, and how we shape the past to fit our current needs.