Precipices
During World War II, villagers in a French farming community rescued thousands of Jews and other refugees, while most Europeans spectacularly failed to hinder the genocides in their midst. What set the villagers apart?
Mythical City: Rome In Our Imagination
Ancient Rome in reality: flimsy apartments, streets strewn with human excrement, garbage, and the occasional corpse.
The Irish in Paris
For centuries, the passionate and sometimes persecuted Irish have felt a peculiar sympathy with Europe’s self-anointed capital of sophistication.
From Shame to Pride: the Fall of the Berlin Wall through German Eyes
The decades-long story of how German shame that the Berlin Wall ever stood gave way to German pride that the Berlin Wall came down.
Germany, With a Side of Quirk
It is not easy to be funny about the Germans, and unusual to be affectionate about them.
Man as Machine
A peculiar experiment inspired by the Enlightenment sheds light on the age-old question of what makes us human.
Last Man Standing
It’s no cause for celebration, but the global financial crisis shows why the United States remains the indispensable nation.
The Art of Revolution: Creativity and Euromaidan
What is it about Ukraine’s revolutionaries that makes them more artistic than their status quo opponents?
Battle Over Britain
A century and a half ago, Britain was the world’s mightiest maritime power — which explains the harsh competition for its favor during the Civil War.
Britain's Big Year
How England's 1688 Glorious Revolution represented a battle between two competing projects of modernization.
Before the Fall
The fall of the Berlin Wall was a dramatic moment in time. In the minds of many East Germans, it was years in the making.
Murder in the Ardeatine Caves
How a 70-year-old massacre continues to haunt a nation.
What 18 focus groups in the former USSR taught us about America’s image problems
After talking with dozens of people in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan, two contradictory, prevailing themes emerge about the United States.
What Would Churchill Do?
Putin isn’t Hitler, and this isn't WWII. But as Europe is threatened, it’s worth asking: What would Churchill do — and what do the people who invoke him get wrong?
How Naples became Europe’s great musical machine
Music’s hold over Naples, Italy, has remained omnipresent throughout its history. It is, in a sense, a city founded on song.
Does the World Need the Idea of “Bad” Germans?
Since World War Two, guilt and shame have defined Germany's international role. Why does the world still cling to the idea of "bad" Germans?
