2011
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On Our Public Privacy
In this Smart Set piece, Stefany Anne Golberg contemplates the “public commodification of privacy,” finding a precursor to our own tendencies in the poet Charles Baudelaire’s navigation of 19th century urban life. “But the illusion of public privacy is one…
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Science Fiction, Fantasy Interactive Guide
Over the summer, NPR solicited listener nominations and votes to compile a giant list of the Top 100 Science-Fiction, Fantasy Books. Then SF signal took it a step further by creating an intricate flowchart based on that list. And then,…
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The Last Book of Poetry I Loved: Revolver by Robyn Schiff
How do we know what we know ’til we learn what we’ve learned? Once upon a time I fashioned myself to be one of those thinkers who, as I sophomorically put it, “find the deep in the superficial.” When I…
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Ilya Kaminsky Interview
In anticipation of the 2011 Poets Forum (which kicks off today in NYC), the Academy of American Poets has been conducting a “6 Poets, 6 Questions” interview series over at Bomblog. Yesterday’s conversation featured Ilya Kaminsky. “I write in lines.…
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Today In American Things To Fix
Those of us with life-long bridge phobias probably wish we could un-see this news. According to yesterday’s “Transportation for America” report, one in nine bridges in the U.S. are “structurally deficient,” which means that “each day the volume of travelers…
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“The Great Schism”
This Ta-Nehesi Coates Atlantic piece takes a closer look at what caused the rift between abolitionists and suffragists, despite their many shared values. “I think one way of looking at this — among many others — is to not look at the…
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Hunter S. Thompson’s Playboy Channel
In celebration of The Rum Diary hitting theaters at the end of this month, Playboy has created a new channel devoted to Hunter S. Thompson. “The Rum Diary Gonzo Channel” features a number of the author’s “most memorable stories” from…
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An Occupy Wall Street Roundup
Naomi Wolf tells her story of her arrest at Occupy Wall Street. If you work for NPR, don’t speak publicly about your politics, or you’ll lose your job. So much for the notion that NPR is some bastion of liberal…
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Longreads ♥
Longreads.com, which links to “the best long-form stories on the web,” has picked Rebecca K. O’Connor’s beautiful essay “What We Lost When We Lost Barbara Jean” as one of their selections today. Thanks Longreads.com, we love you back!
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Why not read Moby-Dick?
Historian Nathaniel Philbrick lays out a convincing, if scholarly, case for why Moby-Dick is relevant to modern audiences.
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
Here are some very sad toys. This old map of Australia is pretty dang great. Understanding the mysteries of vampire stars. Art of the British General Post Office. And now your Soviet design for the week.
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Spotlight: An Interview with Tom Gauld
Tom Gauld talks about art, publishing, the balance between commissions and passion projects, and his upcoming book, Goliath.