Robert P. Baird

Featured Writing

RPB
The Crisis Whisperer
A profile of Adam Tooze.
The Guardian Long Read January 15, 2026
God of the Gaps
On Believe, by Ross Douthat
New York Review of Books December 25, 2025
Emerald Sea
The making and unmaking of a half-billion-dollar treasure hunt.
Harper's MagazineApril 2016
The Invention of Whiteness: The Long History of a Dangerous Idea
Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race.
The Guardian Long Read April 20, 2021

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THE NIMBUS

The Nimbus, my debut novel, is out now. The book was named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and a Notable Work of Fiction by The Washington Post. Get a hardcover, ebook, or audiobook at your local bookstore or any of these fine retailers:

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RACK & MANGER

Intragalactic Traffic

And now we may need to lie down "Mass extinction events seem to occur about once every 26 million

Lane on Lang

Anthony Lane on Bunny Lang is, as they say, self-recommending. (I'm tempted to say that Anthony Lane on

Something New

A maxim, a motto, a borrowed manifesto.
More Rack & More Manger

RPB NEWS

The Crisis Whisperer: A Profile of Adam Tooze

Also today I have a new feature up in The Guardian Long Read: a profile of Adam Tooze, an economic

God of the Gaps: On Ross Douthat's Believe

The first of two recent post-Nimbus pieces I've published is a long review-essay for the NYRB on Ross

The Notable Nimbus

It was a real surprise and a true delight to find The Nimbus on The Washington Post's year-end list of "50 Notable Works of Fiction from 2025."

The Nimbus in The Christian Century

A wonderful (and wonderfully titled) review from Benjamin J. Dueholm in The Christian Century.

America Loves The Nimbus!

A fantastic review by Ellen O'Connell Whittet in America, the Jesuit magazine.
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