2011
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The Freelance Revolution
“Today, careers consist of piecing together various types of work, juggling multiple clients, learning to be marketing and accounting experts, and creating offices in bedrooms/coffee shops/coworking spaces. Independent workers abound. We call them freelancers, contractors, sole proprietors, consultants, temps, and…
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Who and What is Happy?
Science and philosophy are the academic parents of the social sciences, which is interesting considering the current obsession with happiness. There’s always an updated study on what (or what doesn’t) make human beings happy, from the psychological/sociological perspective, always backed…
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Points of View
“We are watching 18 screens showing high-definition images captured by nine cameras. Each camera was set at a different angle, and many were set at different exposures. In some cases, the images were filmed a few seconds apart, so the…
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Deconstructing Debt
In this interview economic anthropologist David Graeber disputes the standard theory that the monetary system replaces the barter system, arguing that credit and debt come before money. Graeber sheds light on the complex relationship between debt and morality, transitions from…
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The Beatles as a Pronoun Treasure Trove
Pronouns are really in right now—probably the most popular figure of speech at the moment. And they deserve all the attention because of their linguistic functionality, their significance in unveiling our true social psyche, and their ubiquity in Beatles lyrics.…
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Best Sex Writing 2012
The official Table of Contents won’t be released for a couple of weeks, but a little birdie whispered in our ears (okay, announced it on her Facebook page) that Roxane Gay’s piece “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence”, which we…
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Print Dictionaries or Bust
Dictionaries, and reference books in general, are in trouble. These days there’s more googling than reference book-perusing. John Walsh reflects on the dictionaries that once acted as writers’ essential companions, the inherent treasures of print dictionaries and the perils of…
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Written Roots
Alexandra Fuller’s third memoir, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, turns the spotlight on her mother—”a broken, splendid, fierce mother.”
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
Welcome to the world 7th billion person! Early 70s Cuban stamps are pretty great. Here are some things you can do with typewriters. 100 year old colored photographs of Russian life! woo! Let’s all pour one out for poor ol…
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A MODERN READER #7: Newspapers? Newspapers!
Last March, when the New York Times announced they would be erecting a pay wall, I knew I would pay it.
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Twitter Alter-Egos
Performance art is taking on twitter. Faux famous author accounts are in and they’re taking over. Laura Ingalls Wilder is pioneering the field with her twitter feed (@halfpintingalls) and not only do her tweets stay true to the Little House…