“What I am qualified to say—what I am saying: what links the evils of the modern Olympics to literary criticism, to literary prizes and to A-to-F classroom grades—is that I’m tired of losing and tired of winning, and that we all lose when we focus so often on prizes, grades, and final scores.”
Commentary
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Black Vanguard in White Utopias
“Country music issues a promissory note to its white listeners. The promise is that no matter how much the world around them may be changing, a country radio station or concert will be a safe space for white sentimentality.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Problem With Nostalgia
Michael Musto argues that wearing rose-colored glasses always leads to an unfair distortion — looking back on the best of the past while comparing it to the worst of the present.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Blaming of the Shrew
Sara Fredman explore antiheroes of Golden Age television shows — and the nasty women who humanized them.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The High Price of Being a #MeToo Whistleblower
Tricia Romano considers what speaking out about abuse at the hands of Eric Schneiderman has cost a close friend.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Politics and Prose
A personal essay in which Marie Myung-Ok Lee finds herself conflicted about attending a controversial author’s reading and wonders: what does “speaking up” actually mean?