Down in the schwahl, Malskat and the Feys set to work, attempting to reclaim history by scraping away the paint with which Olbers had tried to recapture the past. But subtracting what their predecessor had done—whether on account of Olbers’ pigments or the Feys’ incompetence—left almost none of the original paint. A nearly 700-year-old national […]
Quotes
Posted inFiction, Quotes
What Lurks in the Dark Corners
The mothers don’t know where I am. I see them occasionally turning in circles, looking for me. They lean their heads close together and talk behind their hands, and I know they are wondering. But like I always tell them, they won’t see me. If they do, it’s because something happened.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Life and Afterlife of Julia Pastrana, a ‘Bearded Lady’
Mexican herders searching for a missing cow found Julia and her mother hiding in a mountain cave.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘There Are No Victories That Will Bring Us Peace’
Ezekiel Kweku wrote this profound essay in August after a police officer named Darren Wilson killed an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown. After last night’s verdict, it resonates.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Meaning We Put Behind Our Passwords
“Perhaps my biggest surprise has been how willing, eager actually, people are to openly discuss their keepsakes.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How An Independent Bookstore in New York Sells Books
At Vulture, Christopher Bonanos takes us behind the business of one of New York City’s longest-running independent bookstores: The Strand.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The ‘Female Stuff’ of Hollywood Creative Meetings
Change rarely happens organically, and gender equality, in both Hollywood and the world at large, is the sort of issue that requires a forceful push by those who see the need for change. But the fact of the matter is, when it comes to the womaning-up of Hollywood, the people doing the pushing behind the […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Moment Firestone Teamed Up with a Warlord
An excerpt from ProPublica and Frontline’s investigation into how the U.S. tire and rubber company Firestone ended up partnering with warlord Charles Taylor, who was taking over Liberia during the civil war in the early 1990s.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
30,000 Words, 700 Jobs, One Year
A few months ago, a friend considering a freelance writing career asked me how much money I make as a writer. I wanted to say, “You mean, what’s the going rate for a human soul?”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Why One ‘Big Idea’ Won’t Save the World
In the late ’90s, an MIT economics professor named Michael Kremer wanted to find out if school kids in Kenya were better served by being given free textbooks or medicine that would eradicate stomach worms.