Real Life Superheroes
I love Tothian: He "doesn't wear a mask because it blocks his peripheral vision, and says he doesn't wear a cape 'because capes get in the way of actually doing real superhero stuff.'"
Wes Phillips
Swan Song
On the disappearing great operatic diva.
Queen of Bayreuth
Wagner's 29-year-old great-granddaughter debuts her production of Die Meistersinger tonight. It's part of a multi-generational saga that rivals the Ring cycle for drama.
On Farting: Language and Laughter In the Middle Ages
Who am I to critique somebody else's field of study?
A Prehistory of the Atomic Age
There's a new biography of Leo Szilard, the physicist who proposed the Strangelovian "doomsday weapon."
Living Photographs
Arthur Mole and John Thomas arranged thousands of soldiers, reservists, and nurses into various patriotic symbols and photographed them from above—a description which, while being accurate, doesn't prepare you for their work.
Why Do They Hate Us?
Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, was asked on a book tour, "So tell me, sir. Why do they hate us?" Having spent half his life in America, the Pakistani writer had to think about who "us" and "they" were. This fine essay is the result of that thinking.
Format Wars
Woulda, coulda, shoulda—some "superior" formats just didn't achieve dominance.
Backward Causality
We report, you decide.
Huckleberry Helps
Huck knows exactly what the enterprising freelancer needs: A feline muse, who alternately attacks the keyboard and scrutinizes the monitor.