When writer and scholar Zandria F. Robinson tries to understand what makes “southernness” a distinct quality in music, food, language, or attitudes about race, she realizes that borders and categories are porous.
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Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story, Unapologetic Women
Exodus in the Ozarks
At a theater in Branson, Missouri, Pam Mandel finds an unexpected plot twist in a very familiar story.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
Regarding the Interpretation of Others
When attempting to write a review of the official Susan Sontag biography, our reviewer finds himself on shaky ground after learning new information about the author.
Posted inReading List
Alternative Reality: An Alt-Weekly Reading List
Nine excellent stories discovered in U.S. alt-weekly newspapers.
Posted inUncategorized
Flagrant Foul: Benching Teen Moms Before Title IX
As a high schooler and new mom, Jane Rubel didn’t consider herself a feminist. She just knew that if husbands and fathers were eligible to play high school basketball, she should have been, too.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story
How Temple of the Dog Pioneered a New Genre of Music Videos in the ’90s
Fronted by Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell, Temple of the Dog was the original rock supergroup. Their music video “Hunger Strike” helped launch a musical movement.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
In a World Full of Cruelty and Injustice, Becoming a Mother Anyway
A visit to Auschwitz makes Eliza Margarita Bates only more determined to have a baby, despite her painful chronic illness.
Posted inEditor's Pick
How The Whitest Singer Of The ’70s Became An Icon In The Philippines
Karen Tongson — named after the ’70s soft rock music icon Karen Carpenter — immigrated to the United States from the Philippines soon after Karen Carpenter died in 1983, at age 32. As she returns to the country of her birth, Karen examines what fuels the Carpenters’ huge continuing popularity in her home country and […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story, Uncategorized
A History of American Protest Music: When Nina Simone Sang What Everyone Was Thinking
“Mississippi Goddam” was an angry response to tragedy, in show tune form.
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.
