Inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous speech, The American Scholar is the quarterly magazine of public affairs, literature, science, history, and culture published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society since 1932.
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Looking Back
The American Scholar
LETTERS
Gambling on the Future
Heritage Ranching
Speeding at a Glacial Pace
Counting Americans in the Digital Age
The Secret Life of Trees
Searching for Seamounts
Journey to Nowhere
How to Be a Big-League Critic • Helpful hints from a professional
Our Fate Is in the Stars • TODAY’S SPACE PROGRAM STILL DOES AMAZING THINGS, BUT NOTHING LIKE APOLLO. IT’S TIME TO BEGIN AGAIN
Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea • IN SEARCH OF THE PLACES THAT INSPIRED THE ILIAD—AND THE TRACES OF UPHEAVAL, CONFLICT, AND MIGRATION THAT LED TO ITS CREATION
Sex Workers of the World United • LAST YEAR’S SESTA/FOSTA LEGISLATION AIMED TO LIMIT SEX TRAFFICKING—BUT IT’S JUST THE LATEST IN A LONG LINE OF POLICIES DESIGNED TO CRIMINALIZE THE OLDEST PROFESSION
Raging Toward Heaven
FOUR POEMS
Rape Trees and Rosary Beads • FIELD NOTES OF A BORDER PATROL AGENT
Aaron Burr in Exile • SURVIVING AGAINST ALL ODDS, HIS JOURNAL TELLS THE STORY OF ONE OF THE MOST MALIGNED FIGURES IN AMERICAN HISTORY
The End of Driving • YES, AUTONOMOUS AUTOS WILL MAKE ROADS SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENT, BUT WHAT WONDERS WILL BE LOST?
Bucksaw
Flights of Fancy • The TWA Terminal at JFK, long dormant and then threatened with demolition, is reborn as a hotel
Finding Your Voice • How one writer discovered his when he stopped looking for it and learned instead to listen
Bonanza of Greed • Myths and lies will, if we let them, spell the end of the public domain
Southern Secrets • Three very different women haunted by the past
The Difficult Diplomat • A highly flawed man who brought peace and controversy
What Makes Us Better • Two books explore whether morality is innate or learned
Plumbing the Depths • A writer explores the world beneath our feet
Myths of Memory • Our ability to recall is not an undiluted gift
Commonplace Book
AMERICAN PLACES