“On Nathan Fielder and the rise of auto-performance.”
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Our Narrative Prison
“The three-act ‘hero’s journey’ has long been the most prominent kind of story. What other tales are there to tell?”
Good Riddance To ‘The Best American Poetry’
“If ‘The Best American Poetry’ captures ‘the zeitgeist of the current attitudes in American poetry,’ we should be asking: Why are those attitudes so f****d up?”
This Literary AI Scandal Changes Everything
“A magazine’s response to accusations of publishing AI-generated fiction points to a new phase in the struggle to keep literature human.”
Recognizing the Stranger
“What in fiction is enjoyable and beautiful is often terrifying in real life.”
Second and Long
“Why did James Whitehead—poet, fiction writer, and onetime college football player—fail to complete a successor to his celebrated first novel?”
Ten Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2024
For the tenth year in a row, we’re kicking off the reading year with a set of short stories hand-picked by longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj.
They Would Not Dream of Flowers: Translating Through the Tehran Blackout
“There, in that forced isolation, I sat translating a story about death. Meanwhile, the real thing operated just outside my window.”
From Silicon to Slime
“Claire L. Evans on imagination as a form of computation, and the endless entanglement of our biological reality.”
Asian Mothers, Bad Feelings: Notes on An All-conquering Stereotype
“A certain image of the tiger mom— strict, cold and demanding—is ubiquitous in popular culture. Why?”
