The American Scholar
@theamscho.bsky.social
A quarterly journal of literature, science, and culture published by
Phi Beta Kappa for a general readership since 1932.
📍Washington, DC 💻 theamericanscholar.org
Phi Beta Kappa for a general readership since 1932.
📍Washington, DC 💻 theamericanscholar.org
“Dear possible, and if you drown,
Nothing is lost, unless my empty hands
Claim the conjectured corpse
Of empty water—a legal vengeance
On my own earnestness.”
Nothing is lost, unless my empty hands
Claim the conjectured corpse
Of empty water—a legal vengeance
On my own earnestness.”
“Dear Possible” by Laura Riding - The American Scholar
Poems read aloud, beautifully
theamericanscholar.org
September 10, 2025 at 2:33 PM
“Dear possible, and if you drown,
Nothing is lost, unless my empty hands
Claim the conjectured corpse
Of empty water—a legal vengeance
On my own earnestness.”
Nothing is lost, unless my empty hands
Claim the conjectured corpse
Of empty water—a legal vengeance
On my own earnestness.”
Open our latest edition to learn more about two Kansas rivermen who were said to have perished in pursuit of giant catfish, why the pigment black has held such allure for painters, and how one anesthesiologist learned to expect the worst.
Autumn 2025 - The American Scholar
“My father lived an honorable life. He fulfilled his responsibilities to those who depended on him. Without question, he was a loving man, but there was something unknowable and untouchable about…
theamericanscholar.org
September 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Open our latest edition to learn more about two Kansas rivermen who were said to have perished in pursuit of giant catfish, why the pigment black has held such allure for painters, and how one anesthesiologist learned to expect the worst.
“Wrecking Ball,” Rick Bass’s latest book, is “a beautifully composed and deeply insightful longform essay dealing … with race, friendship, God, and football,” writes Steve Yarbrough in his review.
A New Sweet Diminishment - The American Scholar
What happens when a 60-year-old writer dons helmet and pads to compete under the Texas lights?
theamericanscholar.org
September 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
“Wrecking Ball,” Rick Bass’s latest book, is “a beautifully composed and deeply insightful longform essay dealing … with race, friendship, God, and football,” writes Steve Yarbrough in his review.
J. Malcolm Garcia’s journalism takes us into the heart of a homeless encampment without “shade, water, shelter, or any kind of supervision,” where some are lucky enough to own a tent and others sleep “on the ground with only their clothes for a blanket.”
Helping Doug - The American Scholar
At a tent encampment in Oregon, one man struggles to survive as medical volunteers try to bring a meas-ure of light to dark, uncertain days
theamericanscholar.org
September 9, 2025 at 2:33 PM
J. Malcolm Garcia’s journalism takes us into the heart of a homeless encampment without “shade, water, shelter, or any kind of supervision,” where some are lucky enough to own a tent and others sleep “on the ground with only their clothes for a blanket.”
Our Autumn 2025 issue has arrived! Highlights include J. Malcolm Garcia’s visit to an Oregon tent encampment; Kristin Idaszak’s look at the link between horseshoe crabs and the human heart; Steve Yarbrough’s profile of writer James Whitehead; and much more!
Autumn 2025 - The American Scholar
“My father lived an honorable life. He fulfilled his responsibilities to those who depended on him. Without question, he was a loving man, but there was something unknowable and untouchable about…
theamericanscholar.org
September 8, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Our Autumn 2025 issue has arrived! Highlights include J. Malcolm Garcia’s visit to an Oregon tent encampment; Kristin Idaszak’s look at the link between horseshoe crabs and the human heart; Steve Yarbrough’s profile of writer James Whitehead; and much more!
There’s a whiff of George Plimpton in Rick Bass’s decision to play football at age 60, but Bass’s descriptions of the experience in his new book are very different in temperament.
theamericanscholar.org
September 6, 2025 at 8:36 PM
There’s a whiff of George Plimpton in Rick Bass’s decision to play football at age 60, but Bass’s descriptions of the experience in his new book are very different in temperament.
Last month, David Lehman prompted poems inspired by Emily Brontë, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Barnabe Googe, and more.
The Stolen Lines - The American Scholar
Proposing an original prompt is always a risk, but reading the poems provoked by what I shall always think of as my “stolen lines” prompt—“take a line from someone else and run with it”—I feel like…
theamericanscholar.org
September 6, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Last month, David Lehman prompted poems inspired by Emily Brontë, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Barnabe Googe, and more.
A bird in the hand is not just worth two in the bush. This week, Clellan Coe quickly discovers she has no idea what to do with the duckling she caught while walking her dogs.
The Duckling - The American Scholar
I was out walking the dogs early one Sunday morning when I saw something small in the middle of the road. It moved a little, veered to the side, then halted as if it expected someone to catch up. It…
theamericanscholar.org
September 6, 2025 at 2:33 PM
A bird in the hand is not just worth two in the bush. This week, Clellan Coe quickly discovers she has no idea what to do with the duckling she caught while walking her dogs.
For Doug, who lives at a Portland homeless encampment, simply taking two pills a day can seem like the most daunting challenge. Although Doug’s world is uncertain and dark, those volunteering to help him and his neighbors are trying to make it a little less lonely.
Helping Doug - The American Scholar
At a tent encampment in Oregon, one man struggles to survive as medical volunteers try to bring a meas-ure of light to dark, uncertain days
theamericanscholar.org
September 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
For Doug, who lives at a Portland homeless encampment, simply taking two pills a day can seem like the most daunting challenge. Although Doug’s world is uncertain and dark, those volunteering to help him and his neighbors are trying to make it a little less lonely.
What on earth was Rick Bass thinking? At the age of 60, the celebrated writer of fiction and essays decided to join a semi-pro football team—the Texas Express—and compete in one of the most violent sports there is, against and beside men who were at least half his age.
theamericanscholar.org
September 5, 2025 at 6:27 PM
What on earth was Rick Bass thinking? At the age of 60, the celebrated writer of fiction and essays decided to join a semi-pro football team—the Texas Express—and compete in one of the most violent sports there is, against and beside men who were at least half his age.
For the next installment of Next Line Please, David Lehman proposes reversing the usual poem-first, title-second process and using one of his ready-made titles as a jumping-off point.
The Stolen Lines - The American Scholar
Proposing an original prompt is always a risk, but reading the poems provoked by what I shall always think of as my “stolen lines” prompt—“take a line from someone else and run with it”—I feel like…
theamericanscholar.org
September 5, 2025 at 2:33 PM
For the next installment of Next Line Please, David Lehman proposes reversing the usual poem-first, title-second process and using one of his ready-made titles as a jumping-off point.
In this week’s Asturias Days, Clellan Coe meets a lonely duckling. “Catching it had taken several tries,” she writes. “Not because it was difficult, exactly, but because you hesitate in that moment—your body unsure whether this is something one really does: pounce.”
The Duckling - The American Scholar
I was out walking the dogs early one Sunday morning when I saw something small in the middle of the road. It moved a little, veered to the side, then halted as if it expected someone to catch up. It…
theamericanscholar.org
September 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM
In this week’s Asturias Days, Clellan Coe meets a lonely duckling. “Catching it had taken several tries,” she writes. “Not because it was difficult, exactly, but because you hesitate in that moment—your body unsure whether this is something one really does: pounce.”
The myriad problems associated with homelessness continue to dominate the headlines. But what is it actually like to live in a tent encampment? In our Autumn cover story, J. Malcolm Garcia introduces us to the J Street Lot in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Helping Doug - The American Scholar
At a tent encampment in Oregon, one man struggles to survive as medical volunteers try to bring a meas-ure of light to dark, uncertain days
theamericanscholar.org
September 3, 2025 at 8:36 PM
The myriad problems associated with homelessness continue to dominate the headlines. But what is it actually like to live in a tent encampment? In our Autumn cover story, J. Malcolm Garcia introduces us to the J Street Lot in Grants Pass, Oregon.
As Pablo Picasso (allegedly) said, “Good artists borrow; great artists steal.” Such was the motivation behind last month’s “Next Line, Please” prompt, in which David Lehman offered a handful of “stolen lines” to his intrepid poets, encouraging them to pick one and “run with it.”
The Stolen Lines - The American Scholar
Proposing an original prompt is always a risk, but reading the poems provoked by what I shall always think of as my “stolen lines” prompt—“take a line from someone else and run with it”—I feel like…
theamericanscholar.org
September 3, 2025 at 6:27 PM
As Pablo Picasso (allegedly) said, “Good artists borrow; great artists steal.” Such was the motivation behind last month’s “Next Line, Please” prompt, in which David Lehman offered a handful of “stolen lines” to his intrepid poets, encouraging them to pick one and “run with it.”
What was David Brown’s night of baseball about? It was “about karma, luck, circles closed, optimism, and generosity,” he writes. And a “losing game that was a big win.”
Immaculate Innings - The American Scholar
At the ballpark on a summer night in Baltimore
theamericanscholar.org
September 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM
What was David Brown’s night of baseball about? It was “about karma, luck, circles closed, optimism, and generosity,” he writes. And a “losing game that was a big win.”
“I think it’s just really beautiful to understand art and home as being so intertwined in the same way that I understand cloth and family to be intertwined,” says artist Cici Osias.
Cici Osias - The American Scholar
Sewing cultures together
theamericanscholar.org
September 2, 2025 at 6:27 PM
“I think it’s just really beautiful to understand art and home as being so intertwined in the same way that I understand cloth and family to be intertwined,” says artist Cici Osias.
With baseball season entering its final stretch, David Brown takes us to Baltimore’s Camden Yards, where the principal attraction on a warm July night isn’t necessarily the underwhelming Orioles but rather the ballpark giveaway: Hawaiian shirts.
Immaculate Innings - The American Scholar
At the ballpark on a summer night in Baltimore
theamericanscholar.org
September 2, 2025 at 2:33 PM
With baseball season entering its final stretch, David Brown takes us to Baltimore’s Camden Yards, where the principal attraction on a warm July night isn’t necessarily the underwhelming Orioles but rather the ballpark giveaway: Hawaiian shirts.
Thomas Gray wrote “Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes” in 1747 when Horace Walpole asked him for an epitaph to commemorate his cat.
“Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes” by Thomas Gray - The American Scholar
Poems read aloud, beautifully
theamericanscholar.org
September 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Thomas Gray wrote “Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes” in 1747 when Horace Walpole asked him for an epitaph to commemorate his cat.
Fifty years ago, Paul Theroux published “The Great Railway Bazaar,” a book that “dazzlingly lifted travel writing out of its midcentury doldrums,” as Thomas Swick writes.
The Great American Travel Book - The American Scholar
The book that helped revive a genre, leading to an all-too-brief heyday
theamericanscholar.org
September 1, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Fifty years ago, Paul Theroux published “The Great Railway Bazaar,” a book that “dazzlingly lifted travel writing out of its midcentury doldrums,” as Thomas Swick writes.
Studying Penelope Fitzgerald, Muriel Spark, and Anita Brookner has led Jessica Francis Kane to wonder if “there is some pattern to be discerned, some golden ratio” of motherhood and work—especially as it seems Fitzgerald is the only one who succeeded at both.
The Patient Penelope Fitzgerald - The American Scholar
Here’s to the English writer who waited until her ninth decade to finally experience fame in America
theamericanscholar.org
September 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Studying Penelope Fitzgerald, Muriel Spark, and Anita Brookner has led Jessica Francis Kane to wonder if “there is some pattern to be discerned, some golden ratio” of motherhood and work—especially as it seems Fitzgerald is the only one who succeeded at both.
Of all the freebies on offer at Camden Yards, the Hawaiian shirt is arguably the most coveted. The trick? You’ve got to be among the first 15,000 fans to arrive to receive one.
Immaculate Innings - The American Scholar
At the ballpark on a summer night in Baltimore
theamericanscholar.org
August 31, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Of all the freebies on offer at Camden Yards, the Hawaiian shirt is arguably the most coveted. The trick? You’ve got to be among the first 15,000 fans to arrive to receive one.
“The Great Railway Bazaar,” writes Thomas Swick, “is also a book that frequently makes you stop and underline a sentence simply because of how brilliantly it captures a look, a scene … a precious detail, a perfect word, an unexpected finish.”
The Great American Travel Book - The American Scholar
The book that helped revive a genre, leading to an all-too-brief heyday
theamericanscholar.org
August 31, 2025 at 6:27 PM
“The Great Railway Bazaar,” writes Thomas Swick, “is also a book that frequently makes you stop and underline a sentence simply because of how brilliantly it captures a look, a scene … a precious detail, a perfect word, an unexpected finish.”
This past year, textile artist Cici Osias turned her attention to quilting because of its role on the Underground Railroad, where quilting codes signified safe houses for enslaved people seeking freedom.
Cici Osias - The American Scholar
Sewing cultures together
theamericanscholar.org
August 31, 2025 at 2:33 PM
This past year, textile artist Cici Osias turned her attention to quilting because of its role on the Underground Railroad, where quilting codes signified safe houses for enslaved people seeking freedom.
Socrates, not unlike the Buddha, insisted on subjecting local culture, codes, and customs to rigorous examination, leaving “no established opinion unchallenged.” A new book argues that their similarities don’t end there.
The Seeker and the Sought - The American Scholar
A prominent Buddhist scholar’s quest to unify East and West
theamericanscholar.org
August 30, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Socrates, not unlike the Buddha, insisted on subjecting local culture, codes, and customs to rigorous examination, leaving “no established opinion unchallenged.” A new book argues that their similarities don’t end there.
Growing up in Maryland’s Baltimore County, Cici Osias—who is of African-American, Haitian, Congolese, and Nigerian ancestry—was surrounded by African art and traditions.
Cici Osias - The American Scholar
Sewing cultures together
theamericanscholar.org
August 30, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Growing up in Maryland’s Baltimore County, Cici Osias—who is of African-American, Haitian, Congolese, and Nigerian ancestry—was surrounded by African art and traditions.