Elizabeth Kolbert

Who Owns the Internet?

What Big Tech’s monopoly powers mean for our culture.

Phosphorus Saved Our Way of Life—and Now Threatens to End It

Elizabeth Kolbert writes about the Green Revolution, aquatic dead zones, and “The Devil’s Element,” by Dan Egan. Can we avert “phosphogeddon”?

The Psychology of Inequality

Researchers find that much of the damage done by being poor comes from feeling poor.

The Fate of Earth

Humanity’s survival seems more uncertain than ever. But what happens when we look at ourselves through other creatures’ eyes? Elizabeth Kolbert investigates.

Unnatural Selection

Elizabeth Kolbert talks to Ruth Gates and William Powell about new research to “assist” evolution in order to produce hardier coral and tougher trees.

The Terrible Teens

Elizabeth Kolbert on “The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults,” by Frances Jensen.

The Siege of Miami

Elizabeth Kolbert on the effects of the rising sea levels on South Florida.

Stone Soup

Elizabeth Kolbert on the paleo diet: how did it get so trendy, and what are its environmental costs? Proponents argue that, before the invention of agriculture, people were healthier. But with a global population of seven billion people, there’s no turning back now.

Up All Night

The science of sleeplessness.

The Case Against Kids

Is procreation immoral?

Sleeping with the Enemy

What happened between the Neanderthals and us?

The Sixth Extinction?

Elizabeth Kolbert on the possible mass extinction of frogs: These amphibians have been around since before there were dinosaurs. But that could soon change.

Why Are We So Fat?

Why are we so fat?

The Climate of Man

In the first article of a three-part series, Elizabeth Kolbert writes about global warming, melting permafrost, and how the Arctic regions are losing ice.