Leslie Umberger on Grandma Moses
The Smithsonian American Art Museum has launched a major retrospective, "Grandma Moses: A Good Day’s Work," spotlighting Anna Mary Robertson Moses as a multifaceted figure in American art. Curator Leslie Umberger explains that the museum spent a decade building a premier collection of Moses’s paintings, filling a historic gap in its folk and self‑taught holdings. The accompanying catalogue delves into Moses’s life, especially her formative years in post‑Reconstruction Virginia, and highlights previously overlooked darker scenes of storms and fires. The project reframes Moses beyond the nostalgic "Grandma" stereotype, positioning her alongside mid‑century modernists.
Ideas Podcast: Try to Love the Questions
Lara Schwartz’s new book *Try to Love the Questions* tackles the growing challenge of politically charged campus discourse by championing free expression, academic freedom, and genuine dialogue. The text outlines First Amendment protections, campus expression policies, and academic standards while...
Barry Eichengreen on Money Beyond Borders
Barry Eichengreen’s new book *Money Beyond Borders* traces the rise and fall of global currencies from ancient coinage to modern digital assets, using history to assess the U.S. dollar’s waning dominance. He argues that geopolitical tensions, mounting U.S. debt, and...
Listen In: Furious Minds
Laura Field’s new audiobook, *Furious Minds*, examines how Donald Trump’s 2016 victory ignited a radical reconfiguration of American conservatism. Field, a former insider in conservative academia, documents the emergence of the New Right—a coalition of scholars, public intellectuals, and tech‑savvy...
Virginia Dignum on The AI Paradox
Virginia Dignum’s new book *The AI Paradox* argues that the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence actually highlight the irreplaceable value of human creativity, moral judgment, and responsibility. She frames AI’s biggest challenges as enduring paradoxes—tensions between efficiency and control, innovation...
Steven Weitzman on Disasters of Biblical Proportions
Steven Weitzman’s new book, *Disasters of Biblical Proportions*, examines how the ten plagues of Exodus have been continually reshaped by Jews, Christians, Muslims and secular thinkers to make sense of catastrophe. Inspired by the COVID‑19 pandemic, the work traces each...
Cornelia Woll on Corporate Crime and Punishment
Cornelia Woll's book argues US prosecutors increasingly rely on out‑of‑court settlements to enforce corporate criminal law beyond its borders, turning fines into a tool of geopolitical leverage. Data shows foreign companies, which represent only 16 % of cases from 2000‑2020, bear...