Carina del Valle Schorske traces a lineage of Puerto Rican backup dancers in American entertainment from Rita Moreno to JLo.
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Posted inBusiness & Tech, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Story, Technology
We’re Not Ready for Mars
Elon Musk can’t wait to send humans to the Moon and Mars. But before we land ourselves on other worlds, we need to remember how we’ve treated our own.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
When Zora and Langston Took a Road Trip
In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston gave Langston Hughes a lift to Tuskegee in her Nash coupe, nicknamed “Sassy Susie.” It was one of most fortuitous hangouts in literary history.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
When It’s Time to Say Goodbye to the Old House
Siddhartha Mahanta looks back at the small suburban starter house in Texas that helped his immigrant father redefine “home.”
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Story
Bundyville Chapter Three: A Clan Not to Cross
A look into the Bundy family’s history reveals how they began to distrust the federal government. From nuclear testing programs in the 1950s to the decades-long Sagebrush Rebellion starting in the 1970s, Cliven Bundy came to believe that the government was out to get him and became emboldened to fight back.
Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Fiction, Story
A Mysterious Crack Appears: Past Trauma and Future Doom Meet in “Friday Black”
In Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s fantastical short story collection, the strangest fantasy of all is that people try to act morally in a corrupt world.
Posted inBooks, History, Nonfiction, Story, Writing
Stalin’s Scheherazade
An opportunistic literary caper became a lifelong con — with no possibility of escape.
Posted inBooks, History, Nonfiction, Story
Oregon’s Racist Past
Starting in the mid-19th century, and extending through the mid-20th century, Oregon was arguably the most racist place outside the southern states, possibly even of all the states.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story, Unapologetic Women
The Silence of Women
Women who spoke too angrily or too publicly were punished in cruel and unusual ways.
Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Story
A Song for the River
In the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, a seasoned fire lookout watches as his beloved forest and his personal life burn, and he tries to imagine what will arise from their ashes.
