In this episode of the Yale University Press podcast, we talk with award-winning classicist Edith Hall about her new book, Facing Down the Furies: Suicide, the Ancient Greeks, and Me. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Pandora | Spotify | Soundcloud The post Ep. 134—The Therapeutic Benefits of Reading Greek Tragedy appeared first on Yale University Press ..read more

In The Earth in the Attic, Fady Joudah, a Palestinian-American physician, explores big themes—identity, war, religion, what we hold in common—while never losing sight of the quotidian, the specific. Join us as we reflect on the role poetry plays in our lives and appreciate the contributions of the poets who have enriched us with a selection of excerpts for National Poetry Month. Fady Joudah— Sleeping Trees Between what should and what should not be Everything is liable to explode. Many times I was told who has no land has no sea. My father Learned to fly in a dream. This is the story ..read more

Donald J. Robertson— When Marcus Aurelius was acclaimed emperor, in 161 CE, his first act was to insist that the Senate confer the same powers on his adoptive brother, who thereby became Emperor Lucius Verus.  The two brothers, or co-emperors, had very different personalities and provided contrasting examples of how to cope with highly stressful situations in life.  Marcus became interested in philosophy when he was twelve years old and spent most of his life training in Stoicism, with a focus on self-improvement.  So, he was well-prepared to cope with adversity.  Although ..read more

In 1980, the National Women’s History Project successfully gained national recognition for Women’s History Week, issued by President Jimmy Carter. Women’s History Month, later established by Congress in 1987, commemorates the central role of women in American history and contemporary culture.1 From biographies of women activists to histories of feminist art movements, our Women’s History Month reading list contains ten compelling works to read this month and beyond. Merze Tate The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar Barbara D. Savage A powerful and inspiring biography of Merze Tate, a tr ..read more

Yonatan Adler— Was Jesus a “Jew”? The internet has been abuzz over this curious question in recent months. Many of those involved in the discussion have claimed that there were simply no “Jews” at all so long ago. Some have opined that Jesus was a “Judean,” an identity-category they suppose was entirely different from what we know of as “Jews.” Others have argued that Jesus was neither this nor that, but was rather a “Galilean.” Still others have claimed that he was none of the above, but instead a “Palestinian.” The current debate had something of an earlier iteration under the Third Reich, w ..read more

Neil Duncanson—  Harry Edward, via Wikimedia Commons. Harry Edward took a deep breath, pushed his spikes into the holes he’d just dug in the sodden cinder track and dropped his head. A vos marques. It was the biggest race of his life. The 100 metres final at the 1920 Olympic Games, in Antwerp. Preparez vous. As he waited for the gun to blast, a Belgian official shouted at American champion Charley Paddock to pull his hands back behind the line. The instruction broke Edward’s focus and concentration and he relaxed a little, expecting a delay or even a call to stand up. Partez. Instead ..read more

Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor brings Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE) to life for a new generation of readers. Founding member of the organization Modern Stoicism Donald Robertson answers your questions about the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and the tremendous challenges he faced and overcame with the help of Stoic philosophy. Who was Marcus Aurelius? DR: Marcus Aurelius was, in a word, the last famous Stoic philosopher of antiquity.  He was also the last of what the 18th century English historian, Edward Gibbon, termed the “Five Good Emperors” of Rome.  Marcus was born into a weal ..read more

Black History Month, or African-American History Month, was proposed in February of 1969 by students at Kent State University. Later to be federally recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, Black History Month honors the central role Black Americans play in the history of the United States. From classic works by Frederick Douglass and W. E. B. Du Bois to the impact of Black artists on our culture, our Black History Month collection features 10 books to read this month and beyond. Yale University Press continues to illuminate the breadth, diversity, and richness of Black experiences, throug ..read more

Matthew Levitt— Over the last 18 years, since I wrote Hamas: Politics, Charity and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad, Hamas has experienced significant change—just not in the ways many people expected it would. Whereas some assessed that participating in Palestinian national politics or ruling the Gaza strip would moderate, or at least co-opt, Hamas’ inclination to violence that did not prove to be the case. The October 7, 2023, massacre demonstrated in the most visceral and brutal way that Hamas ultimately prioritized destroying Israel and creating an Islamist Palestinian state in its place o ..read more

Barbara D. Savage — On a spring evening in 1921, more than four hundred people crammed into a high school auditorium in Battle Creek, Michigan, to witness an annual student oratorical contest where one girl and one boy would be crowned winners. Merze Tate, a sixteen-year-old Black girl, stood in front of the predominately white audience and proclaimed into their silence that “for two hundred and forty-four years my ancestors were held in bonds of slavery, deprived of every opportunity for mental development, civil expression and hindered in their pursuits of human endeavor,” and then saw conti ..read more