First, read an excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s WE WANT TO BELIEVE at @literaryhub.bsky.social 🛸 Then you’ll be ready to learn more and get the book for yourself right here ⤵️ (or wherever you buy books) globalreports.columbia.edu/books/we-wan...

We Want to Believe | Columbia Global Reports

Acclaimed literary critic Adam Kirsch traces the intellectual history behind our cultural fascination with UFOs

globalreports.columbia.edu

Lit Hub@literaryhub.bsky.social · 6h ago

The truth is out there! What UFO fanaticism reveals about American conspiracies. buff.ly/R9HtfI9

“In a way, we might have invented the aliens the aliens that we have been looking for.” Adam Kirsch, author of WE WANT TO BELIVE, joined Keen On America to talk about what we reveal about ourselves when we believe in aliens. 🛸 https://keenon.substack.com/p/is-that-really-a-flying-saucer

Is That Really a Flying Saucer?

Episode 3028: Adam Kirsch on Why We Want to Believe in Aliens

keenon.substack.com

“But, Kirsch argues in this concise treatise, the fact that our search [for extraterrestrial life] has so far yielded nothing decreases the probability that we’ll ever find intelligent life beyond Earth.” 👽 WE WANT TO BELIEVE is Briefly Noted in @newyorker.com! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

We’re going into Labor Day weekend strong here in the CGR office! Early copies of OUR HEARTS BURNED FOR HOME: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War, by NPR correspondent @emilyzfeng.bsky.social On sale October 13, but available for preorder now! --> globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he...

Woo first copies are here! Our Hearts Burned For Home, on sale very soon October 12. The book unearths the untold story of Uyghur exiles who fled China’s expanding police state—only to become a pivotal force behind the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he...

“It turns out that there really is something unique about Earth: as far as we currently know, it is the only place where life exists. But why?” Read an excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s WE WANT TO BELIEVE (on sale now!) at The Guardian ⤵️ www.theguardian.com/news/2026/au...

The great silence: why haven’t we found any aliens yet?

The long read: Given the size and age of the universe, it should be full of species with technology far more advanced than our own. But so far there is no trace

theguardian.com

Regulation is coming for social networks with Meta’s landmark settlement. How did we get here, and what more can be done? Olivier Sylvain has answers & offers solutions with RECLAIMING THE INTERNET: How Big Tech Took Control—and How We Can Take It Back 🛜 globalreports.columbia.edu/books/reclai...

“I think we have this basic desire to feel like we’re not alone in the universe. And one way of responding to it has been through science fictional beliefs, like belief in aliens.” Adam Kirsch joined Michael Shermer to talk about his new book WE WANT TO BELIEVE www.skeptic.com/michael-sher...

Why We Want to Believe in Aliens and Why We Still Haven’t Found Them

About this episode: UFOs were once the stuff of tabloids and conspiracy theories. Today they’re the subject of congressional hearings, Pentagon investigations, mainstream news coverage, and a new wav...

skeptic.com

📚 Welcome Angela Baggetta, who joins Columbia Global Reports as its new publisher after nearly three decades in book publishing!

Columbia Global Reports@columbiagr.bsky.social · last mo.

We’re excited to announce Angela Baggetta is CGR’s new publisher! 🎉💙 We can’t wait to show you what CGR has in store once Angela joins the team. She starts September 8, so you have until Labor Day to prepare. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Happy pub day to WE WANT TO BELIEVE: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, by Adam Kirsch “A thoughtful essay in what the search for extraplanetary aliens tells us about ourselves.” —Kirkus 🛸 find out if the truth is out there--> https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/we-want-to-believe

'We Want to Believe' book explores the reality of UFOs: 'It's always going to be more likely that someone is wrong about what they saw' (interview) www.space.com/entertainmen...

'We Want to Believe' book explores the reality of UFOs: 'It's always going to be more likely that someone is wrong about what they saw' (interview)

"They're not supernatural or miraculous. If they really existed they'd exist in time and space and three dimensions like everything else."

space.com

“The safety of the cables in the ocean is a national security issue, a precondition for the economy, and a matter of literal life and death.” Learn more about the delicate system of undersea cables with this THE WEB BENEATH THE WAVES excerpt in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

Extremely offline: what happened when a Pacific island was cut off from the internet | Samanth Subramanian

A colossal volcanic eruption in January 2022 ripped apart the underwater cables that connect Tonga to the world – and exposed the fragility of 21st-century life

theguardian.com

“Not only do life and human life not need to exist; it would be immensely more reasonable for them not to exist.” Don’t miss this excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s WE WANT TO BELIEVE 👽 (on sale August 25) at @theguardian.com ⤵️ www.theguardian.com/news/2026/au...

The great silence: why haven’t we found any aliens yet?

The long read: Given the size and age of the universe, it should be full of species with technology far more advanced than our own. But so far there is no trace

theguardian.com

“It turns out that there really is something unique about Earth: as far as we currently know, it is the only place where life exists. But why?” Read an excerpt from Adam Kirsch’s WE WANT TO BELIEVE 🛸 (on sale August 25) at @theguardian.com ⤵️ www.theguardian.com/news/2026/au...

The great silence: why haven’t we found any aliens yet?

The long read: Given the size and age of the universe, it should be full of species with technology far more advanced than our own. But so far there is no trace

theguardian.com

We’re excited to announce Angela Baggetta is CGR’s new publisher! 🎉💙 We can’t wait to show you what CGR has in store once Angela joins the team. She starts September 8, so you have until Labor Day to prepare. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Angela Baggetta Named Publisher of Columbia Global Reports

Baggetta, who has worked in publishing for nearly three decades, joins the Columbia University imprint after nine years running her own literary publicity firm, where she focused on “serious nonfictio...

publishersweekly.com

Why is it so important to so many people to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life? Adam Kirsch went in search of the answer WE WANT TO BELIEVE: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, is out August 25 👽 learn more-> https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/we-want-to-believe

Why do we believe in UFOs despite all efforts to dismiss them? And what do we reveal about ourselves when we talk and think about them? 🛸 WE WANT TO BELIEVE: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, is out 8/25 👽 learn more--> https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/we-want-to-believe

New in the CGR office! Early copies of WE WANT TO BELIEVE: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters, by literary critic Adam Kirsch 🛸 On sale August 25 learn more & preorder your copy--> https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/we-want-to-believe

New Article: How Can We Reclaim the Internet from Big Tech? Inside the Legal and Policy Battle Intelligent Machines explores law professor Olivier Sylvain's plan to rebalance control away from tech monopolies and protect small creators.

How Can We Reclaim the Internet from Big Tech? Inside the Legal and Policy Battle | TWiT.TV

Intelligent Machines explores law professor Olivier Sylvain’s plan to rebalance control away from tech monopolies and protect small creators.

twit.tv

Who bets best, algorithms or fans? Join us for a conversation about what happens when betting markets & soccer fandom collide. With LOSING BIG author Jonathan Cohen & @tu-dortmund.de prof Andreas Groll. 🗓️ Next Mon June 22 at 4pm 📍German House of Soccer NYC Register now-> www.ghos-dfb.de

ICYMI: @oliviersylvain.bsky.social, author of RECLAIMING THE INTERNET, joined The Indicator from @planetmoney.bsky.social podcast to talk about how we lost the plot when it comes to free speech on the internet, and what we can do to get back on track. 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

“These are companies that engineer the online experience. This isn't about free speech, but about optimizing their bottom line” Olivier Sylvain, author of RECLAIMING THE INTERNET, explores how we can give power back to the people on @planetmoney.bsky.social The Indicator www.npr.org/2026/06/03/n...

Can the internet be reclaimed from Big Tech? : The Indicator from Planet Money

Why one former senior advisor of the FTC thinks a libertarian myth of the internet has given Big Tech too much power.Fact checking by Vito Emanuel.Your Next Listen — Why infinite scroll's inventor wan...

npr.org

"Parties have done good things. There have been moments in American history where strong parties actually were part of what moved America in different directions" 🎧 ICYMI: Julian Zelizer explored the potential of partisanship on the @brennancenter.org's The Briefing podcast youtu.be/e518vbxiK_E?...

Hyperpartisanship and the Attack on Voting Rights (with Julian E. Zelizer)

YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice

youtu.be

We are writing a book! globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he... Drops October 2026 with @abduwelia.bsky.social Reporting this book was such an adventure. This is a story I never thought I’d have access to, and I’m thrilled to share it w readers who watch either the Syria and/or China space.

Happy UK pub day to THE BURNING GROUND: Oil and Militancy in Nigeria Noo Saro-Wiwa’s incisive and personal investigation of the oil industry in her home country of Nigeria reveals a haunting tale of corruption in a region struggling with contradiction ⭐ uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

“We hear the story of thousands of Uyghurs who travelled to Syria to gain battlefield experience fighting in the Syrian civil war. Are these people freedom fighters? Or are they the now battle-hardened militants China always feared?” one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5831...

🔊 Listen Now: The foreign fighters from China that played a key role in Syria’s revolution

State Of The World From NPR on NPR One | 16:24

one.npr.org

This is also the topic of a forthcoming @columbiagr.bsky.social book by Feng, which will be out in mid-October.

Our Hearts Burned for Home | Columbia Global Reports

The untold story of Uyghur exiles who fled China to the front lines of Syria’s war

globalreports.columbia.edu

We love to see it! Sonia Faliero's THE ROBE AND THE SWORD is in great company on Aatish Taseer's list of essential reading on Buddhism in Asia for the @nytimes.com https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/t-magazine/buddhism-books-history-reading-list.html

Follow the Steps of the Buddha, Book by Book

nytimes.com

"When people are convinced that they know a secret, world-shaking truth, they are willing to wait a long time for vindication." Adam Kirsch explores why we still believe the truth is out there, and the government is covering it up, for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.com

"When people are convinced that they know a secret, world-shaking truth, they are willing to wait a long time for vindication." Adam Kirsch explores why we still believe the truth is out there, and the government is covering it up, for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Truth Is Still Out There

Why Americans remain convinced that the government is hiding an alien conspiracy

theatlantic.com