Archive - The Common Reader

Bacon, Swift, Smith: Three anniversaries in 2026

A different sort of anniversary

Jan 14 • Henry Oliver

Driving like a video game

Suburban life in NOVA

Jan 13 • Henry Oliver

Literature, politics, and the future of the humanities

A discussion with Julianne Werlin and Jeffrey Lawrence

Jan 7 • Henry Oliver

1:03:25

An economist asks: What is the value of reading great literature like Eliot and Tolstoy?

Joy Buchanan's Thoughts

Jan 6 • Henry Oliver and Joy Buchanan

What should Tyler Cowen ask me?

I'm going on his podcast

Jan 3 • Henry Oliver

Ten reasons to read great literature in 2026

A reading manifesto

Jan 1 • Henry Oliver

December 2025

Year in review, 2025

Another good year

Dec 28, 2025 • Henry Oliver

What do we owe each other once we become different sorts of people?

Moral philosophy in On the Calculation of Volume

Dec 26, 2025 • Henry Oliver

No paywall, anywhere

Merry Christmas

Dec 23, 2025 • Henry Oliver

High performers are late bloomers

A large new study in Science

Dec 22, 2025 • Henry Oliver

The books I enjoyed most this year, 2025.

In no special order and not necessarily published recently.

Dec 19, 2025 • Henry Oliver

Kiran Desai: catching a glimpse in the forest

The Loneliness of Sunny and Sonia

Dec 18, 2025 • Henry Oliver

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