I was reading a book review the other day — an essay on poetry, by Elisa Gabbert, as it happens — and came across the name of someone I once knew, a fabulously eccentric cult figure of the old school.

The animals’ complex songs share structural patterns with human language that may make them easier for whales to learn, a new study suggests. By Emily Anthes The English language is full of wonderful ...

In a way, this is a familiar problem for us. So much of our relationship is rooted in the unsaid or the unsayable. She once explained that in China, it’s rare to hear “I love you”—to this day, we say ...