Essays
The World at the End of a Line
The grandson of one of American literature’s Lost Generation novelists reflects on his namesake’s love of the sea
by John Dos Passos Coggin | Thursday, April 13, 2023
The Goddess Complex
A set of revered stone deities was stolen from a temple in northwestern India; their story can tell us much about our current reckoning with antiquities trafficking
by Elizabeth Kadetsky | Thursday, March 02, 2023
Last Rites and Comic Flights
A funeral in a 1984 Japanese film offers moments of slapstick amid the solemnity
by Pico Iyer | Thursday, July 28, 2022
The Believer
When nobody would touch Joyce’s manuscript, Sylvia Beach stepped in
by Keri Walsh | Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Know Me Come Eat With Me
In the world of Ulysses, food turns out to be everything
by Flicka Small | Thursday, June 09, 2022
It Happened One Day in June
Why Ulysses is as vital as ever— compelling, complex, and direct
by Robert J. Seidman | Wednesday, June 01, 2022
The Bomb Next Door
Eighty years into the atomic age, U.S. nuclear power reactors have produced several million tons of radioactive waste—and we still have no idea how to dispose of it
by Thomas A. Bass | Wednesday, June 01, 2022
The Lions and the San
How could a people survive for thousands of years with so many predators in their midst?
by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas | Wednesday, June 01, 2022
Confessions of a Cyclist
Traversing New York City on two wheels can be both life-affirming and perilous