City to Rapper: Drop Dead
This summer’s ongoing war between Chief Keef and Rahm Emanuel is as much about urban history as holograms.
heartland
A collection of 19 issues
Our Better Shelves
After visiting more than 2,000 independent bookstores—at least virtually—the Amazon annihilation, Orwell misquotes and all, doesn't seem quite so inescapable.
My Brief, Binding Road
Since the closing down of Silk Road, the number of drug dealers selling online has increased nearly 50 percent. A former customer waits in fear, wondering why he used his real name.
Chiraq, Drillinois
Originating on the South Side, drill music has attracted major labels to Chicago in search of young rappers—as gang violence turns the city into the murder capital. Each has everything to do with the other.
South by Midwest
Flash fiction—prairie-style—from novelists Jonathan Lethem and Aimee Bender, plus an interview with Jeff Martin, editor of the new collection Imaginary Oklahoma.
A Buyer's Guide to American Colleges
Rare is the college graduate who’s attended more than one school. But when you’ve attended four very different types of university, it’s incumbent upon you to share what you’ve learned.
Come as You Are
To be a male clothing wearer in the early 21st century, you must do what men do, and wear trousers, whether or not the style fits you. Lessons in breaking through fashion anxiety to find yourself—in a pair of Comme des Garçons drop-crotch pants.
Burn All the Liars
An unfinished autobiography and a 1980s biopic turned Frances Farmer, one of the great golden-era stars, into a lobotomized zombie. The main trouble: Frances Farmer wasn’t lobotomized. An investigation to set one of Hollywood’s most convoluted stories straight.
Geraldine Brooks
Our man in Boston sits down with the Pulitzer-winning novelist to discuss Australian literature, Harvard's (neglected) charter to educate American Indians, and those residents of Martha's Vineyard who say no to Chardonnay.
Nipples at the State Fair
The state fair puts on display the usual cornucopia of wonders both natural and synthetic, all ready for your sampling. A young man gets in touch with his appetite.
Poetry for the Age of American Decline
Poetry can provide solace. It can also remind people to quit freaking out. Poems selected for Congress, nervous shoppers, Maureen Dowd, and the President of the United States.
Mastering the Art of American Eating
The USDA recently replaced the almighty food pyramid with a color-coded pie chart. To celebrate our nation’s mixed metaphors about healthy eating, one man decides to spend a month attempting to follow every government recommendation he can find. Nowhere is pie advised.
Les Bêtes Fromages
America adores its clichés about French culture—skinny women, hot sex, and "surrender monkeys." But the Mali intervention shows France in a different light. From 2011, an appreciation for France's history of conquering and oppressing the world.
The Products We Hate
Introducing a new series, "Crowdsource," where we tap the masses' wisdom for your entertainment. This week, TMN readers and staff explain which products the world should destroy.
David Remnick
Our man in Boston goes the distance with author and New Yorker editor David Remnick in a conversation about President Obama, magazine publishing, and American Idol.
Favorite American Presidents
Often, our most revered presidents earn our appreciation more for their chutzpah than their politics. Recovering from Presidents Day hangovers, our staff and readers share their favorite commanders-in-chief.
Michael Ondaatje
Our man in Boston talks to Michael Ondaatje about why he writes novels, how he measures satisfaction, and when fiction can succeed by operating like poetry.
When the Lights Went Out
At 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2003, tens of millions of people across the Northeast and Midwest U.S. and Ontario were suddenly without power. Our staff and readers tell us what happened next.
Iggy Pop Lusts for Life
More than four decades into his career as a rock mentor, Iggy Pop talks about getting back with the Stooges and finding a daily rhythm that suits him.