Emily Monosson

Jan 8, 2025 | keyreporter.org | Gregg Hecimovich |Emily Monosson |Jeremy Eichler

Phi Beta Kappa is pleased to announce the winners of our three annual book awards. These $10,000 prizes are given to outstanding works of non-fiction that engage a wide audience with important ideas in science, history, and literature.

Nov 30, 2023 | pbk.org | Gregg Hecimovich |Jeremy Eichler |Alfred A. Knopf |Emily Monosson

The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman's Narrative By Gregg Hecimovich, Ecco "In 1857, a woman escaped enslavement on a North Carolina plantation and fled to a farm in New York. In hiding, she worked on a manuscript that would make her famous long after her death. The novel, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, was first published in 2002 to great acclaim, but the author’s identity remained unknown.

Oct 22, 2023 | nature.com | Emily Monosson

Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature’s Toxins — From Spices to Vices Noah Whiteman Little, Brown Spark (2023)One beautiful summer’s day about 30 years ago, my father had a mini-stroke. He was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia and was prescribed the blood-thinning drug warfarin. But after a few years of relative stability, tests showed that his body was no longer metabolizing the warfarin properly.

Aug 20, 2023 | lithub.com | Emily Monosson

Bananas are a fruit that unites the world. We may not all eat the same variety, but we all know a banana when we see one. Depending on where you live and what kind you eat, they are sweeter or starchier, creamy or tough, all loaded with potassium. Per person in the United States we eat about twelve kilograms (twenty-​seven pounds) of bananas a year, more than any other fresh fruit. Elsewhere around the world, bananas are part of the daily diet.

Jul 25, 2023 | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Emily Monosson

I’ve never liked mushrooms. Some of them are poisonous, and despite several years as a Boy Scout, I still don’t know which ones, so why take chances? Nor am I fond of mold in bathrooms or on leftovers, or even in those annoying online ads featuring unsightly toenail maladies. Yet some forms of fungus are undeniably good. Penicillin fights bacterial infections. Without yeasts, we’d have no fermented beverages such as beer and wine or some of the foods we enjoy when imbibing (think pizza crust).