“This is the Costco psychology: quality over brand; value over status. To be ripped off is to be taken for a sucker. It is to have your resources wasted, your hard-earned cash sucked into a delusion of taste, timeliness, or class.”
essay
Posted inEditor's Pick
Down and Out in Bedford Falls
“‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and the dream of small-town life.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
“It’s Time to Play Ball, British Style”
“A hot dog, a Pimm’s cup and two national anthems: The cultural dissonance of watching America’s pastime in London.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Home for a Season
“Maybe there is no tension between settling down and leaving.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Harmony
“You can practice a song a thousand times and still its first note sends you into the unknown.”
Posted inFeature
Three Strings: Past, Present, and Future
Finding beauty, human connection, and one’s heritage in the resonant sounds of the dulcimer.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Hidden-Pregnancy Experiment
“We are increasingly trading our privacy for a sense of security. Becoming a parent showed me how tempting, and how dangerous, that exchange can be.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Loving Him Meant Facing My Greatest Fear
“Living with a disability, I shielded myself from dance. Then I met him.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
We Need To Rewild The Internet
“The internet has become an extractive and fragile monoculture. But we can revitalize it using lessons learned by ecologists.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Variations on the Theme of Silence
“Without stretches of silence, you cannot hear yourself or anyone else.”