“Throughout the Middle East, the versatile fruit has been revered since antiquity. How will it fare in a changing world?”
History
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Touch of Moss
“Inside a rainforest or on the city pavement, moss asks so little yet offers so much: a tactile encounter with time itself”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Maintenance Race
In this fascinating piece, Stewart Brand recounts the journeys of three sailors competing in an around-the-world race in 1968, their very different approaches, and the important role of maintenance in their voyages. Every piece of equipment on board, and the structure of the boat itself, would be stressed for months on end. Since going ashore […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Slave Money Paved the Streets. Now This Posh RI City Strives to Teach Its Past.
Between 1700-1850, the city of Newport in tiny Rhode Island launched more slave trading voyages than anywhere in North America. And in a time when conservative school boards and state leaders around the U.S. are banning lessons about race and racism in schools, Newport is confronting its past: teaching students local Black history, African heritage, […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
An Art Crime for the Ages
In the second half of the 20th century, Bangkok-based British businessman Douglas Latchford was at the center of an operation that trafficked ancient Khmer sculptures and archaeological treasures out of Cambodia. These pieces of art traveled far, ending up in rich people’s homes and museums like the Met. Matthew Campbell tells an engrossing story filled with […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Stephen Curry and the Spirit of History
One one hand, I’ll read any smart piece that dives deep on the transcendent play of the Golden State Warriors’ point guard — and even more so in the wake of Curry finally winning an elusive NBA Finals MVP honor. But on the other hand, I can’t remember any others in which a history scholar […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Breakfast with the Panthers
The Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland in 1966 as a way to address police brutality throughout the city, but its work expanded beyond the streets. In its early years, the Panthers did a lot of work in the community, with many women in leadership roles. At one point, writes Suzanne Cope, the author […]
Posted inCulture, Nonfiction, Reading List, Story
Shamrocks Not Required: A Reading List on Modern Ireland
Eight stories to complicate your clichéd idea of Ireland.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Sewing Lessons
In this personal essay at Salvation South, a new magazine edited by the founding editor-in-chief of The Bitter Southerner, Shelley Johansson retells her family’s story against the background of World War II. I know my great-grandmother felt that she was helping the war effort when she sewed bandages – her pride radiates off the page […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
On Writing: An Abecedarian
“To be inside the cathedral of a language is to be inside a particular view of the world.”