Nonfiction

Writing

Unpublished journal entries

My Screenshots

In search of lost memes

The Birthday Party No One Wants

Why Americans aren't celebrating the semiquincentennial

The End of Books

What happened when a dumpster arrived behind my university's library

Reading the Declaration of Independence as Holy Text

How the American creed emerged—and evolved—over 250 years

Toni Morrison’s Native Figures

A new reading of race in her novels

Browse

Nonfiction

What Is a Poetic Novel?

A newly translated manifesto
September 8, 2025

When AI Speaks for the Dead

A murder victim recently addressed a defendant with the help of AI. What are the limits of our new reality?
September 8, 2025

Is Mary Oliver Embarrassing?

Shame seemed like an obstacle to appreciating the poet. Instead, it became the key to understanding her work.
September 2, 2025

Michael Wolff

Why Trump's Epstein problem won't go away
July 24, 2025

Blue Crabs

Eating them the way God intended
June 9, 2025

Doorknobs

I never installed them. What doors could they have opened?
June 9, 2025

Rhona Bitner

On Pointe
June 9, 2025

Salomé

I gave my daughter the name my mother wanted—but who was her namesake?
June 9, 2025

Taking Offense

Reading through bad feeling
June 9, 2025

The Renegade Richard Foreman

How the downtown playwright reinvented theater
June 9, 2025