“On the last day of my old job, I stumbled out the door, holding aloft that iconic emblem of termination: The Box. Though from the outside it might look wholly indistinct, we who have felt its symbolic weight know this is no ordinary box; this is a box that can make grown men cry.”
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
What Nuclear Winter Would Do to the World’s Food Supply
Let me take the most likely one: the nuclear winter case. Say two countries that both have access to nuclear weapons get very angry at each other, and then retaliate, destroying most of the major cities in the opposite country. The vast bulk of humanity would survive, eventually. Say maybe we lost 5 percent of […]
Posted inNonfiction
It’s Time to Stop Saying ‘Drink the Kool-Aid’: Interview with Jonestown Author Julia Scheeres
“It reduces a mass tragedy to the level of banality.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Real Life Injuries in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
It’s been 40 years since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre hit theaters and shocked moviegoers with its violent scenes. Texas Monthly has resurfaced their story from 2004 by John Bloom about the making of the film, which was made on a budget of $60,000 (about $290K, adjusted for inflation). Here, Bloom describes the injuries the cast […]
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Story
Rainy Season
Two young sisters living in Thailand sneak off their diplomatic compound for a night of beauty and danger in this spellbinding short story.
Posted inNonfiction
How the Emperor Became Human (and MacArthur Became Divine)
The end of divine rule in postwar Japan, and the absolute power of General MacArthur.
Posted inNonfiction
The Radical Pessimism of Dashiell Hammett
The stories of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler once wrote, “gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse.”
Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews
Breaking the Mold
Social scientist Bella DePaulo’s research reveals a broader array of lifestyles—from our relationships to our living spaces—than many of us could dream up.
Posted inBooks, Member Pick, Nonfiction, Story
The Wandering Years
Thoughts, observations, and reflections from the travel journals of Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Life as a Teenage Girl, Living with Doris Lessing
It was a famously cold winter. I’d come from a snowbound Hove, where I’d spent hours sitting and brooding, wrapped up but shivering on the frozen pebbled beach staring out at an icy sea, writing poetry about seagulls and loneliness (no longer extant, thank heavens, though that’s not to say that I wouldn’t write about […]
