“As they pass through different hands, cooking utensils can magically connect us to loved ones who are no longer with us.”
Objects
Posted inCulture, Nonfiction, Reading List, Story
What We Remember: A Reading List on Archives
Why do we keep what we keep — and who decides? An archivist digs and collects longreads on how objects and materials shape public memory.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Finally, the Truth Behind the ‘Haunted’ Dybbuk Box Can Be Revealed
“The Dybbuk Box has captured the popular imagination, becoming the stuff of internet legend — and commerce.”
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
A Place to Stay, Untouched by Death
After her mother’s passing, Jane Ratcliffe considers the role everyday objects play in a good death.
Posted inEditor's Pick, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction
A Place to Stay, Untouched by Death
After her mother’s passing, Jane Ratcliffe considers the role everyday objects play in a good death.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
What It Means for an Object to Be ‘Context Free’
In a recent piece for Vice, Jules Suzdaltsev discussed the ubiquity of white plastic chairs and what that ubiquity means for world culture amidst rapid globalization. Below is a brief excerpt about from the piece: But unlike similar global objects like lighters, televisions, paper clips, cigarettes, transistor radios, and AK-47s, these chairs are “context free.” MIT’s Director of Civic Media […]