Inspired by Robert McCloskey's beloved children's book of the same name, the iconic bronze Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in Boston's Public Garden has come to serve as something of a record of the recent decades of life in the city itself. In a se...

"Many memories, many myths" – this is how Wendy Doniger begins the story of her parents' origins in Europe and sharply bifurcated life in America. Recalling their contrasting attitudes toward Judaism and religion in general – and acknowledging the my...

Focusing on the figures of Plato, Archimedes, and Caravaggio, The Divine Spark of Syracuse discloses the role that Syracuse, a Greek cultural outpost in Sicily, played in fueling creative energies. Among the topics this book explores are Plato and th...

The Jewish High Holidays – the ten days beginning with the New Year Festival of Rosh Hashanah and culminating with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – constitute the most sacred period of the Jewish year. During this season, religious as well as nonaf...

For some, Richard Wagner is infamous as the favorite composer of Hitler, who seems to have admired Wagner as an early exponent of his own racist ideology and worldview. Impressed by this assumption victims of Hitler have also associated Wagner and hi...