Voices of the Walmart
There are eight million stories in a city. How many are there at Walmart? Random telephone calls made to hear about life inside.
Matt Ray Robison
Work Is Pretty Scarce Around Here
Just before and right after President Obama’s State of the Union address, an editor telephones complete strangers around the country, to find out what’s really going on.
We Don’t Eat It Here
People living in countries that aren’t the US explain the meaning of Thanksgiving, from the splendor of “harvest day” to the tradition that is gun violence.
Main Street, USA
Sinclair Lewis despised his hometown in Minnesota. It disliked him, too, especially after being lampooned in a bestselling novel that mocked the citizens for their small-town ways. These days, though, he's all they've got.
Lots of Oil Fields Around Here
A special Fourth of July edition of our series where an editor randomly calls people in small towns around America to see what’s happening.
Odd People Here
The United States is a huge country, much too big for the nightly news. Our series continues where one of our editors randomly calls people in small towns around America to find out what’s really going on.
Here You Know Pretty Much Everybody
Our series continues with more random phone calls around small-town USA to find out what’s really going on. This time our editor only makes his calls at night, to see what happens when America goes dark.
People Here Drink a Lot
Our country is colossal, much too big for the nightly news. Our series continues where a TMN editor randomly calls people in towns around America to find out what’s really going on.
The Type We Do Here Is for Self-Defense
Continuing our series of randomly calling people around the U.S. to find out what's going on in their towns, this time we focus on the Olympics—how do folks who come from the same communities as America's Olympians feel about their star athletes?
Here People Keep Christmas Lights Up All Year Round
The United States is much too big for the nightly news to cover thoroughly. Continuing our series of randomly telephoning people around the country—from Santa Claus, Ind., to Brilliant, Ala.—to find out what’s really going on.
People Here Actually Show Their Livestock
The United States is an enormous country, much too big for the nightly news. We asked one of our editors to randomly call people in towns around America and find out what's really going on.
One More Day in Madison
For two weeks, Wisconsin state employees have occupied the capitol. Our man in Madison reports from inside the rotunda, where the mood swings from obligated to giddy.
Signposts in a Strange Land
"The luck of New Orleans," Walker Percy said, "is that its troubles usually have their saving graces." Seven authors and scholars discuss writing in the Big Easy, from Early Times to Katrina clichés.
Paper Tigers
Sports are stupid. Beautiful. Dull. Transcendent. Most of all, they're more than just games. We assembled sports writers, critics, freaks, and authors to tell us why.
The Edge of Sustainable Living
U2's guitarist has recently been slammed by environmentalists for his California real-estate development. An FAQ for concerned neighbors.
Kevin Moffett
Kevin Moffett is the author of the short-story collection Permanent Visitors, and his stories have appeared in McSweeney’s, Tin House, and twice in The Best American Short Stories. Until recently, he edited and wrote for Funworld, the official magazine of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (see
How to Play Magic: The Gathering
Those who can't do, learn. In this installment of our series in which the clueless apprentice with the experts, we learn lands, creatures, and spells from Magic great Jon Finkel.
Buke and Gass
It's always a special thrill to see a band that forces itself to do more with less. Not only do they end up finding all sorts of ingenious backroad ways to arrive at their music, but their shows seem to radiate with this funny, inspirational charm. It'
Starship Troopers Revisited
Starship Troopers, in the year it came out, was one of most profound moviegoing disappointments of my life. I was 13, and a little idiot. I sat there blinking up at the screen, feeling dull and confused. But it wasn't Neil Patrick Harris dressed up in Nazi SS