Editor's Journal: A special tour of our Autumn 2023 Issue
The Phi Beta Kappa Society
America's most prestigious honor society celebrating excellence in the liberal arts & sciences since 1776.
Hello from Washington, D.C.:
Welcome to the new, monthly LinkedIn newsletter of “The American Scholar,” the venerable but lively magazine of public affairs, literature, history, science, and culture published by the Phi Beta Kappa Society since 1932. I’m Sudip Bose, and I have been the editor of the “Scholar” since my appointment last December. Each issue of this newsletter will highlight a curated blend of articles from our latest issue—and bring you a mix of thought-provoking and entertaining pieces from our podcasts and website.
If you’ve got a taste for mystery, plunge into our Autumn cover story, which probes the intersection of neurobiology and Mexican shamanism—and tries to make sense of a missing-persons case that’s been puzzling people for nearly 20 years. The central character is Dr. Jacobo Grinberg Zylberbaum, a noted psychologist who had a taste for the mystical arts. In “The Grinberg Affair,” Ilan Stavans attempts to unknot his very tangled life story.
I’m delighted to welcome into our pages the esteemed historian and former Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust , whose essay “A Turn to the Dark Side” explains why the recent work of Civil War historians has become so decidedly morbid. Faust also explains, in thoughtful, moving fashion, why such recent events as the Covid pandemic, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have changed the way she views the lives of 19th-century Americans.
领英推荐
I want to mention two other wonderful pieces. In “Shostakovich in South Dakota,” Joseph Horowitz envisions the future of classical music in America, taking us to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and introducing us to “the happiest professional orchestra I know.” You’ll meet the conductor of the South Dakota Symphony, and you’ll see why his eclectic choices in programming, rooted in Native American culture, just might offer a template for other American ensembles. In “Origin Stories,” Caroline McCoy tells us about her apartment, which happens to occupy the ground floor of Flannery O’Connor’s childhood home. As McCoy set up residence, she began to wonder about the back yard. She soon learned that a small brick carriage house once existed on the grounds, and that this dependency was home to O’Connor’s caretaker, a woman named Emma Jackson. It turns out that Jackson, a figure lost to history, may well have played an important role in O’Connor’s views on race.
If you’re a regular reader of The American Scholar, you probably know that our magazine has won 14 National Magazine Awards in its history, both for specific articles and for general excellence. If you’re new to the “Scholar,” I’d like to welcome you to a community that prizes independent thinking, a commitment to the affairs of the world, and a lifelong love of learning. We believe that the various disciplines of the liberal arts and sciences—including literature, history, the sciences, and the arts—can help us better understand the complex world in which we live.
We also value whimsy, humor, and the unexpected. Consider, for example, our online-only glimpse of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s lighter side, as shown in a 1951 letter that the legendary nuclear scientist wrote to an 11-year-old fan. And if you’re as voracious a consumer of podcasts as we are, we hope you’ll give ours a try: “Read Me a Poem” (which is just what it sounds like) and “Smarty Pants”—where you’ll hear interviews with a diverse range of writers, from Anya von Bremzen on national cuisines to Jeremy Irons on T. S. Eliot.
In the next edition of this newsletter, I’ll share links to a rich selection of poetry, fiction, and book reviews from our current issue. And if you’d like to subscribe to the print version of The American Scholar, you can do so here.