Newsletter

“Despite endless warnings highlighting the dangers of the digital world, there is a growing acceptance that, in return for the speed and convenience of the internet, we must relinquish a little of our privacy.”  In the ’80s, “hacking” wasn’t a familiar concept to most moviegoers. Do you remember watching WarGames for the first time? The […]

“I may never have wanted to be a librarian, but I love this job. This specific job. Not because of any kind of noble commitment to knowledge or love of books. I love it because every day requires me to meet humanity face to face.” What does it mean to be a librarian today? At […]

“The skies were blue that day, and there was a light wind. For around half an hour all was well. But as the Cessna approached Caquetá, a Colombian department that contains one of the densest, wettest, most remote corners of the Amazon, something went wrong.” Pat yourselves on the back: you’ve made it through January. […]

“The way forward had to be with open eyes and with hearts exposed to injury. We’d seen the price we paid when we failed to bear witness.” Hello, weekend, c’mon in! The light is slowly returning to the Northern Hemisphere, and with it the promise of brighter days ahead. First up, Amory Rowe Salem writes […]

“She did live. She had to wear a catheter for several weeks, but she got better. The long recovery gave Debra time to think on what she wanted to do about the man who had hurt her.” Welcome to 2024! We are back for another year of editors’ picks, stirring originals, and inspiring reading lists. Kicking […]

“There’s something about losing yourself in a communal experience that’s immensely appealing in this age of virtual meetings and not-so-social media. We want to see the artists we love in person. We want to believe they’re singing directly to us.” Elizabeth Blackwell, a regular commentator on cultural phenomena (check out her Reality TV and Pivotal […]

“To watch any ghost story set in a city like New York requires this kind of sensitivity, an awareness that every building is haunted, and that these hauntings happen in layers: as much as each generation tries to wipe out the traces of those who’ve come before, those memories are always there.” As we approach […]

“But now I like to imagine him in Paris, sitting at a café, drinking an espresso, his notebook open, full of notes and poetry. It’s easy to picture in my mind. He’d look perfect there.” Four years ago, Kevin Sampsell lost his friend Arthur to suicide. He started writing about him three years ago—but the […]

“Officially, I’m a Senior Admissions Specialist, employed by a behavioral health company, and my professional objective is to assess the mental health needs of prospective patients and connect them with appropriate forms of care. Unofficially, I’m an addict who stopped doing drugs and started taking these calls.” Oh hey, weekend, c’mon in! This week, we’ve […]

“Whoever says Americans don’t talk about death has yet to meet my Soviet family. We’re all too superstitious, afraid to let death dance around our tongues as though saying it will make it happen sooner.” Dear reader, it’s officially the final Friday of summer. It’s also somehow September, even though June was just last week. […]