Portrait of the Artist as a Single Mom
In this personal essay, created with support from the non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Stephanie Land chronicles her struggle to support herself and her two daughters while attending college and trying to make a living as a writer.
The Afterlife of a Memoir
Novelist Aminatta Forna writes about the lingering effects, fourteen years later, of having written a memoir, The Devil That Danced on the Water, about the political hanging of her father in Sierra Leone.
A Presumption of Guilt
Bryan Stevenson examines the connection between the modern day death penalty and lynchings of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Tenants Under Siege: Inside New York City’s Housing Crisis
Despite having the most progressive housing laws in the country, New York City is in the throes of a humanitarian emergency: a large-scale “displacement of populations” from their homes.
A Voice for the Voiceless
The Art of Difference
With the publication of two books and new gallery showings featuring photographer Diane Arbus, Hilton Als explores her work, writings, artistic motivation, and her uncanny ability to capture on film the humanity of the “freaks” — the marginalized people — who were the subjects of her work.
Lessons from Hitler’s Rise
Confucius said, “Study the past if you would define the future.” A good place to start is this newly translated biography of Hitler.
‘Fuck’-ing Around
The history of swearing is more than just an evolution of social mores — it’s also a politically charged narrative at the “intersection of anger and gaiety.”
Pause! We Can Go Back!
Bill McKibben’s review of the new David Sax book, The Revenge of Analog, is itself a great read on the virtues and affectations newly-hip analog items — Moleskins, Scrabble boards, vinyl records.
Murderous Manila: On the Night Shift
“No one will be safe until many, many more have died.” In a dispatch from Manila, James Fenton describes the current war on drugs in the Philippines and two types of killings: “buy-bust” operations and EJKs, or extrajudicial killings.