At the Guardian, the author recounts how it takes “hundreds of drafts” and “thousands of incremental adjustments” to form a story into a “hopeful thing.”
Krista Stevens
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quotes
How Jazz Singer Baby Esther Jones Became Betty Boop
Gabrielle Bellot explores the original inspiration for Betty Boop—a black jazz singer with an iconic style and voice.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Place of Absorption
Katherine Laidlaw recalls an abusive relationship in which her boyfriend threatened her with a boxcutter. In examining why she stayed as long as she did, she observes how the emotional scars affect her thinking and perception in what should be a new, exciting relationship — to the point where “Everything now — a flicker of […]
Posted inQuote Posts
27 Years and 1,000 Break-Ins: North Pond Hermit — Book Edition
An excerpt from The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit — Michael Finkel’s book on Christopher Knight, the hermit who survived by committing 1,000 break-ins over nearly three decades.
Posted inBusiness & Tech, Nonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
A Nuclear Bomb at Ground Zero, and What Happens Next
At the Atlantic, two researchers discuss their study of how humans might respond after a nuclear attack on Manhattan.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop
The comic character Betty Boop is enjoying a renaissance, with new cartoons, a new trademark red lipstick, and women’s fashions on offer. Gabrielle Bellot explores the original inspiration for Betty Boop — a black jazz singer named Baby Esther Jones — whose signature voice and scat-inspired patter inspired not only Betty’s look, but her signature […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
George Saunders: What Writers Really Do When They Write
George Saunders reflects on his writing process, suggesting that the magical, romantic notion where fully formed art leaps from the author’s brain on to the page does the writer, the reader, and the work a disservice. In reality, it takes “hundreds of drafts” and “thousands of incremental adjustments” to form a story into a “hopeful […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Filmmaker Kyrre Lien Traveled the World Interviewing Internet Trolls in Person
Filmmaker Kyrre Lien was curious about what drives people who make hateful comments online, so he traveled the world to interview internet trolls in person.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Happens If a Nuclear Bomb Goes Off in Manhattan?
Researcher William Kennedy, who along with Andrew Cooks, is mining data from past tragedies such as the 1917 Halifax Explosion, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina to run computer simulations studying how humans would respond after a nuclear attack on Manhattan, New York.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Into The Woods: How One Man Survived Alone in the Wilderness For 27 years
An excerpt from The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit — Michael Finkel’s book on Christopher Knight, the man who simply walked away from the modern world into the woods of rural Maine in 1986 — without any real plan for survival. Living alone for 27 years in a […]