Nancy J. Jacobs— June 2016 brought me to Kenya, where birders of all feathers are flourishing. As the easternmost remnant of Guineo-Congolian rain forest, the Kakamega Forest is an attractive destination for avi-tourists, who are inspired by its list of 358 species, including some not otherwise found outside the forests of Central and West Africa. I
Bryn Geffert and Theofanis G. Stavrou— Although the New Testament uses the terms “priest” and “bishop” interchangeably, the early church quickly distinguished between the two. Priests acted as advisers and teachers. Bishops led Christian communities and “celebrated” (administered) the Eucharist—“Communion” or “the last supper”—that is, the ceremony that Jesus instructed
James K. Galbraith— In the United States we do not consider that there is such a thing as a people of Florida or Rhode Island or even of Texas, who have specific and intrinsic rights to their houses and businesses; nor apart from “buy local” campaigns do we care whether
Harry Kelsey— The men who sailed for Spain in the sixteenth century were descended from a long line of veterans who had served in the armies of Leon and Castile during several centuries of warfare against Moorish invaders. Battle-hardened and confident, these men of Spain journeyed westward, looking for the
Lorri Glover— Among people Donald Trump refers to as his “fans,” one of the most commonly expressed attractions to his improbable presidential candidacy is that he “tells it like it is.” Setting aside the not insignificant matter of accuracy (what “it” actually is), the claim speaks to a culture-wide clamoring
Neil Faulkner— A hundred years on from Sykes-Picot, the Middle East is in turmoil. These two things are intimately related. Mark Sykes was a British diplomat, François Georges-Picot his French opposite number. They gave their names to a secret agreement to carve up the decaying Ottoman Empire between Britain, France,
László F. Földényi— This past April, the American edition of my book Melancholy was presented at the Rubin Museum in New York. While spending a week in the city, meeting friends and acquaintances, I was often confronted with the question: “Are you Hungarians melancholic?” Initially, my answer was: “No, not
Chris Given-Wilson— When Henry of Bolingbroke seized the throne from his cousin King Richard II in September 1399, he presented himself to the people of England as the champion of property rights–and no one was better qualified than he to do so, for it was Richard’s unjustified seizure of Henry’s
Russia expert David Satter, author of The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship under Yeltsin and Putin talks about the fall of Yeltsin, the rise of Putin, and what lies ahead for Russia and the United States. Listen in iTunes.
Thomas S. Kidd— When did the first people come to live in North America? Or, humanly speaking, when did American history begin? These questions deal with really old history, but the answers are changing all the time. Just last month, archaeologists working at the Aucilla River in Florida announced the discovery