The Trash Heap Has Spoken
The power and danger of women who take up space.
The Compost King of New York
What happens to food scraps? Charles Vigliotti, chief executive of American Organic Energy, has a vision to turn food waste, a largely untapped resource, into clean energy.
Trilby, the Novel That Gave Us ‘Svengali’
George du Maurier’s Trilby, published in 1894, became one of the most popular novels of its time. The story introduced us to a young heroine, Trilby, and a memorable villain, Svengali, whose names have since taken on lives of their own.
The Battle for the Soul of San Francisco
From its economy to its geology, California has always been a place of dynamic upheaval, but as more affluent residents move into San Francisco’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood, tensions rise. One minister’s inclusive, politically charged church not only offers services to the area’s disenfranchised, it helps the Bay’s tech workers get to know their new neighbors and integrate themselves more constructively into the fabric of Tenderloin life.
‘The Great Shame of Our Profession’
When an adjunct literature instructor from Harvard won a prestigious literary criticism award, he chose to deliver a scathing critique of his discipline as his acceptance speech.
Failure to Cooperate
The indignity and discomfort of being accused of theft: a short story about a long shift at the coffee shop everyone loves to hate.
House of Cards: The Politics of Calling Card Etiquette in Nineteenth-Century Washington
In the early republic, social media had its own crucial importance — although what the media employed was not the tweet, but little bits of pasteboard.
Driving America
“Liberated by technology and disillusioned of the road-trip myth, the latter-day road tripper must face directly the fact that traveling in itself is phenomenally boring.”
Drowning statistics are a deadly reminder of our complex relationship with water
Fenella Souter reports in detail on what it’s like to drown, through the harrowing personal experience of a woman named Merav, who in a bid to show off to her boyfriend 40 years ago, jumped into the surf at Gunnamatta Beach in Victoria, Australia, and lived to regret it.
Phones are now indispensable for refugees
The Economist reports on how refugees prize mobile phone connection — even over food. Phones are their primary way to stay connected with family at home as they enter “informational no-man’s land,” not knowing who to trust, and where to go. Phones help them stay motivated with photos of family and successful migrants, and offer a means to contact smugglers to help them with their journey.
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