A Brief History of the Tournament of Books
You can’t kill the Rooster.
history
A collection of 158 issues
The Long Tail of the Attica Prison Riot
The Attica prison uprising lasted five days. It took 45 years to get a more or less complete public account of what transpired—and only thanks to the efforts of a few heroically stubborn people.
Moving Stars
The Obamas are the rare First Family to leave the White House stronger than when they arrived—never victims, even when hatefully victimized. Is it too late for the rest of us to learn how?
Dear Jack
A father writes his son a note on election night. It gets passed around their family and friends—and soon the entire world. What viral impact looks like, post-Trump.
Paris, Exposed
The layout of the French capital is famous for its density and opaqueness. Under attack, suddenly transparency is the norm.
War Plan Red
The quirky history behind the secret, full-scale invasion that the United States once planned for Canada, and vice versa.
The Loss
To understand everything wrong about health care in America today, look to a horrifying trend in amputation.
The Wayback Machine
How nostalgia works and why social media may destroy it altogether, or restore it to its original purpose.
Hunting the Hound
A lifelong phobia is the result of a terrifying childhood incident. But the real culprit may be Arthur Conan Doyle.
City to Rapper: Drop Dead
This summer’s ongoing war between Chief Keef and Rahm Emanuel is as much about urban history as holograms.
The Slaughter
To produce food in the form of meat, an animal will be killed. Obvious but significant: You will realize you are about to end a life.
A Heritage of Hate
Why it’s the duty of every white American to burn a Confederate flag.
Our Dino Love Will Never Die
Dinosaurs haven’t been super-popular for 65 million years—it only feels that way. Fans and experts explain our obsession with dead monsters.
Silicon Valley High
No one’s surprised in Silicon Valley when a 12-year-old runs the family e-commerce store. But going to the same high school as Steve Jobs and liking it are two different things.
The Death of Clemency
Clemency is supposed to be a “fail-safe” in our judicial system. Thanks to a handful of powerful, well-paid political appointees, that notion is proving lethally incorrect.
Symbolism for Beginners
For tens of thousands of years, wild horses have inspired humans—to nurture, to create, to slaughter—culminating in the past century of America’s legal and psychological battles over the horses we can’t own.
Knead for Naught
After decades of perfecting a homemade bread recipe, a single experiment transforms a home cook into an artisan.
The World According to Brian Williams
A look back at the dethroned NBC Nightly News anchor’s storied history, in his own words.
The Marriage Defense
The Supreme Court will soon deliver a definitive ruling on same-sex marriage, a subject that has roiled the United States since the colonial era—or not. A brief illustrated history.
Grading the President
As President Obama enters his final days in office, a proper assessment of his tenure requires a variety of measurable, non-political categories: golf, offspring, homebrewing, and more.
The Mother Wave
Before the days of GPS, sailors navigated using the feel of the waves. On a mission to learn the ocean's secret rhythms, a researcher discovers a coded message in a ship logbook.
The Kings of Simcoe County
At an Elvis festival in rural Canada, scores of tribute artists (not "impersonators") pay homage to the King. When searching for the meaning of it all, try not to overthink it.
Terrapin Station
All the magic of the Mojave Desert, or the Amazon rainforest, can be found in the salt marshes of New Jersey.
A Brief History of Bloggering
Even a fake history of blogging—going back to the Old Internet, when HTML templates were so raw—offers insight into how we reached today's web and survived comments.
Remnants of the Underground Railroad
The Thirteenth Amendment passed 150 years ago, abolishing slavery. Today, little of the Underground Railroad still remains. A painter hits the road to discover what’s intact.
This Is How I Post
Over the past decade, social media has made us all big communicators, but we’re giving off more noise than signals. An argument for the handwritten note.
The Bill of the Century
The Civil Rights Act, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, changed the shape of American society. The story of how it finally passed is just as remarkable.
Who Goes There
The Heartbleed Bug exposed a well-known secret: Passwords suck. But that’s really nothing new—just ask the Romans. Explaining the password’s past and future.
Demolish Me
The present-day lust for ruins is nothing new. In fact, it’s nearly as old as any ruins themselves. From a flattened Louvre to Percy Bysshe Shelley, a journey to the dawn of ruin porn.
One Small Store
Two men, separated by more than 150 years, discover the folly of attempting Western-style capitalism in Micronesia.
The Misplaced Birthday of President George Washington
The truth behind Washington’s Birthday, President’s Day, Presidents’ Day, or whatever the hell you want to call it, as briefly explained by puppets.
Gentlemen, Formerly
A gentleman in 1720 could read Greek while mounting a running horse. Today’s gentleman reads GQ in the bathroom. From rapists to stylists, a history of the American gentleman.
Having to Do With the Price of Onions
A sharp rise recently in the price of onions in India is about a lot more than just sandwiches. When onions are up, even governments are at risk.
Wrestling With Andy Kaufman
The hoax at the Andy Kaufman Award show led to speculation the notorious comic faked his death—a joke that wouldn’t have been out of character. When a fresh-faced Glamour editor mingled with him the year before he died, Andy talked about disappearing.
The Champagne of Maine
The top-selling spirit in Maine is a coffee-flavored brandy, something that could be straight out of old medicine texts. A hunt for the origins of a staple, in the northern woods and waterfronts.
All the President’s Killers
Fifty years after Dallas, an illustrated guide to every person, plot, and nefarious organization ever accused of killing JFK.
A Few Brief Remarks
Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg was short: only three minutes long, following a moving, two-hour performance by famed orator Edward Everett. It also was nearly meaningless.
Dressed to Kill
Real-life villains to inspire costumes, including the conquistador so horrible the king of Spain made it a crime to say his name.
Whither Greatness
Economic recession. Climate disaster. Chaos in the Middle East. The world cries out for leaders who will face our biggest dilemmas, and all we get are short-sighted narcissists. Where are the great leaders of today?
A Sudden and Awful Manner
In early New England, anyone who stood near an open door or window faced mortal danger. A conversation with a woman who hunts for gravestones with epitaphs describing death by lightning strike.
Bombs Over Damascus
As another military intervention gets underway—with your name on it—we thought a brief tour of recent history in Syria would be useful, with lots of pictures.
No One Is Innocent
Think baseball today is rotten from drugs and punks? A century ago, things weren’t much better. A brief history of baseball's dark traditions—cheating, substance abuse, obscenity, violence—and the colorful players who brought them to life.
E Pluribus, Gen X
Generation X has always been able to fashion its own best outcome. Now it’s time to take that DIY attitude and fix the nation. Because you know who really won the American Revolution? That’s right: Slackers.
How Der Boss President Changed Baseball
In the late 1870s, baseball was at risk of dying out before it even got started, strangled by a teetotaling, law-abiding, church-going new league. Then a German saloonkeeper in St. Louis got involved.
Go Your Own Way
The recent ho-hum reaction to the purchase and ensuing buyback of Frommer’s obscures one key fact: Guidebooks are creators of social change. A defense of their place in the canon.
Token Anxiety
As New York City changes, so do its trains; our worries about life above and below ground move hand in hand. So which came first, the jitters or the subway?
A Closer Walk With Thee
For residents of Patsy Cline’s hometown of Winchester, Va., the struggle over how to remember the famous country singer begins with deciding what sort of a legacy she left—and whether they want it.
The Gales of November
On Nov. 28, 1966, the SS Daniel J. Morrell capsized during a storm, taking 28 of its 29 crewmen to the bottom of Lake Huron. The sole survivor of a Great Lakes shipwreck tells his tale.
Bad Land
America is full of guns—one gun for every citizen—and Americans often use them to shoot one another. It’s not enough anymore to say we love our guns. The question is: Why do we kill?
She Nukes Me, She Nukes Me Not
Pyongyang’s frequent threats toward the United States appear to be ratcheting up in intensity. How did we get to this point? An illustrated guide to the relationship’s recent romance, and why you should be nervous about North Korea.
Papal Haze
Even as the Roman Catholic world prepares to welcome its 267th leader, the papacy remains mysterious and misunderstood. It's time to explore the world of popes!
Hiss and Hers
When you fall for someone, you fall for everything that comes with them: their beliefs, their passions, and American history’s most infamous typewriter.
Tony Horwitz
Our man in Boston sits down for a frank accounting with Tony Horwitz, author of beloved works like Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches From the Unfinished Civil War. Here they chat about his new book on John Brown—still a divisive figure in America, particularly in these days of terrorism—and the
Rainy Night in Georgia
Even in the most forsaken corners of the Caucasus, daily life can boil down to domestic turmoil, hip-hop videos, and arguing over Bryan Adams’s nationality.
Liner Notes for Christmas
Christmas is a time for family and friends and very weird songs that only get played once a year. Eleven holiday songs researched and fact-checked to explain their appeal, including the mystery behind endorphins solely released by Mariah Carey.
Four More Beers
One of the most striking differences between U.S. presidents is how they choose to stock the White House bar. From teetotalers to all-out drunks, a brief history of presidents and their preferred libations.
Our French Connection
A two-week journey across the US—specifically towns named Paris, with a clipboard and a hundred questionnaires—to uncover what Americans think about the French.
Deplorable, Lousy, Godawful, and Required
People complain that politics are worse than ever. It happens to be true. But history contains as many examples of the contentious, weird, and wacky as the present—and those absurdities are actually vital to our democracy.
Bagels, Toasted
Risen from the streets of Eastern Europe and squalid New York City, bagels now hold a seat at middle- and upper-class breakfast tables everywhere. A look back from a baker with 50,000 “golden visions” under his belt.
Our Future National Pastime
Predictions for the baseball season ahead from someone who hasn’t paid attention to sports statistics since the 1992 Orioles.
Athens of the Now
Twenty years ago—or even 10—Nashville was falling to the bottom of any list of top U.S. destinations. Music City's recent resurgence is a reminder of what Americans really value.
Thomas Mallon Redux
The rise and fall of Richard Nixon has been the subject of many histories, but perhaps none so insightful as Thomas Mallon's latest novel Watergate. A conversation about crime, ambition, booze, and Christopher Hitchens.
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part three of four.)
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part two of four.)
Our French Connection
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Others simply prefer "freedom fries." A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Parts one through three of four.)
Boots March on Bolotnaya Square
This winter, a burgeoning protest movement laid its cornerstone in a former swamp and up grew hope. Our correspondent talks to protesters, editors, commentators, and Kremlin-watchers in anticipation of this weekend's election and what comes next.
How to Officially Forget
More than two decades later, a return visit to Tiananmen Square finds it scrubbed clean—just as it was immediately following the Incident. Except now there is thick smog, and ghosts. In contemporary Beijing, the past is like Kentucky Fried Chicken: unavoidable.
The Devil’s Trumpet
History is an imperfect science—the truth often weaves within nuance and mystery. For those playing the role of historian, the trick is knowing what you’re looking for.
Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore
A grocery visit or dinner out in Israel can sometimes leave your stomach churning, but not for the reasons you might think.
King of the Hyperpolyglots
On a quest to find the person who speaks the most languages on Earth, our correspondent encountered Emil Krebs, a German diplomat who knew, by some accounts, 65 of them—and happily swore in dozens.
The Ghost of Berserker Christmas
Don’t worry this Christmas if your grandfather shoots up the neighborhood—it’s all in keeping with 200 years of tradition that have been whitewashed by consumerism. How wild Christmas—night of carousing, gambling, and booze—became family-friendly.
Cape Fear
A small portion of the Massachusetts coastline is home to America’s biggest witch-hunt, a history of savage wife mobs, the occasional 400 percent increase of unlucky pregnancies, and the world’s largest deposits of black crystals.
The Barber Comes Around
When London’s Tottenham district fell to youth-driven chaos this past August, an elderly barber almost lost everything. Then other young people stepped in to keep him cutting.
Handheld Time Machines
Cities are full of noise and scuffle, and they don't always reveal their history. Armed with a fistful of maps from 1901 and a smartphone bristling with data-recording apps, one man tries to uncover a city's secrets.
We Must Walk the Camino Together
For centuries, the Camino de Santiago has drawn religious pilgrims to northern Spain. But those guys never did it with walkie-talkies, GPS, taxis, and Wonder Bread.
Tempest in an Inkpot
Don’t be fooled by the hand-lettering trend in movie posters and book covers—cursive is dead. Who cares? A million angry commenters around the web who extol the virtues of loops and curls. But the traditional form has a history that’s less than precious.
The Lost Pondshiners
New York’s Hudson Valley has long been haunted—by headless horsemen, and living terrors, too. In the hills between Poughkeepsie and Albany existed a clan of artisans known for their semi-wild existence—and for being a real-life connection to the region’s supernatural past.
The Man Behind the Window
Allan Seager was a student at Oxford when he contracted tuberculosis. What happened next made him one of America's greatest writers—declared the heir to Anderson and Hemingway—ever to be forgotten. Yet one of Seager's short stories endures in ways that none of Hemingway's can match.
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.
Trust Me
A century ago food vendors were often confidence men, cutting their products with inedible substances. A study of the history of food adulteration reveals hucksters at every turn.
Caught Telling Fiction
The gap between literary and historical fiction is mostly a marketing ploy--at least until a novelist meets a survivor of her story's plot.
Tippler, Traitor, Fumbler, Fool
America endlessly honors its best presidents. Enough with that. A demand for a federal holiday to glorify the five who rose so high, only to fail so shamefully.
The Two Shmuels
The day-to-day returns, but the sense of danger is still palpable to the Golem and Ruth. Reluctantly, he returns to his blog, this time with a prompt.
The Karma Bum
When Allen Ginsberg stayed with my family, we played video games and read together. But the harmony was broken when the yoga began. It wouldn't be the last time.
Impresario Seaman
Norman Seaman was one of New York’s great avant-garde supporters. In his biography, he said, John and Yoko would only get a chapter.
Nothing Is off the Record, Because I’m Not Coming Back
After 26 years writing Harper’s Notebook, Lewis Lapham talks about history, essays, and modern journalists.
True Story
A pause in the action, as the Golem recounts important moments in the brothels and strip clubs from his past, both recent and not-so-recent.
Torpedo
On the run from the kidnappers, the Golem remembers the child he first met when he too was new.
What Mad Pursuit
After his odd job draws to a close, the Golem, still on protection duty, realizes a new task lies ahead.
Where Secrets Harden
Accompanied by a nervous, loudmouth dog, our writer sneaks into a hidden, underground city where Britain hides thousands of extremely dull documents.
On Surrender
The day after being roped into his latest protection duties, The Golem faces new threats—and a history of unstoppable devotion.
Remember the General Slocum
The morning of June 15, 1904, promised a day of fun for more than a thousand residents of the Lower East Side. In an instant, it turned deadly.
On Protection
“From the day Samuel Halevi pointed at the little boy lecturing to a passel of scholars and said, ‘He carries a bright flame. No one must put it out,’ I was a protector.” The Golem falls into an old role.
Marching in June
What is it about summer that attracts both Eisenhower and the recently engaged? A consideration of the striking similarities between weddings and wars.
Serving Someone
Even a being formed out of clay a thousand years ago has to make a living in today’s world. The Golem returns, and reveals an array of especially odd jobs.
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.
And Now a Few Minutes With Andy Rooney’s Homo Erectus Ancestor
What the kids call “Acheulean,” others call pretentious nonsense. And what’s up with fire?
Out of the Brainland and Into the Heartland
Thomas Jefferson’s heart’s work was to carve out a little Eden on a small mountaintop. Visiting Monticello again and again and again.
Same as It Ever Was
Following up with targets of the infamous Rock Critical List, an anonymous, highly personal screed that sparked a firestorm.
DJ Premier: Hope to the Underground
The turntablist now known as DJ Premier got help at critical moments in his rise from a piano-playing childhood in Houston, and these days he's looking to spread the love.
Pieces of the World
For people who lived near the World Trade Center, 9/11 can still be traced to debris that lingers around the neighborhood. A map of what the tourists don't see.
Murderer, Thief, Whoremonger, Cheat
This summer marks the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's joyride to Albany--a celebration steeped in blood and greed.
An Arm and a Leg to Be Divided
Four hundred years ago, Henry Hudson took a pleasure cruise up to Albany--and so began a bloody, murderous chapter of American history.
Treacherie and the Chiefe Men of the Countrey
To celebrate the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's cruise to Albany, a new series about the Dutch colonies' origins in America--no publicity cover-ups allowed.
Handel Reborn
Beethoven said Handel was the greatest who ever composed--so why do we only seek him out at holidays? Marking the 250th anniversary of Handel's death with a guide to all the life in his music.
Gogol's Portraits
Though his hair frequently resembled mid-'70s Rob Reiner, his gaze was more erratic. On the occasion of Gogol's 200th birthday, tracking the evolution of his visage.
Gandhi’s Return
Last week at a Manhattan auction house, five of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal items were on the block when second thoughts crept in. From the back offices, observing an auction in suspense.
The Night New York Avoided a Riot
In the days following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, more than 100 cities experienced significant civil disturbance. In New York, everyone expected riots. What happened next.
The Week After
Barack Obama's inauguration next week will be full of significant, historical events. But what about the seven days to follow?
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.
I Will Sing When You’re All Dead
Professional opera singer, mountain climber, race car driver, and Vladimir Nabokov’s best translator and collaborator, Dmitri Nabokov has led an impassioned life.
Henry Rollins and the Emergence of Hardcore
Early hardcore was characterized by frontmen like Black Flag's Henry Rollins, who had the perseverance and genius to rise above convention. But as Rollins tells it, change is less an event than a lifelong process.
What Is It, Boy?
When a beloved companion dies, existential crises loom. Tracing the history of Neptune, a mixed Australian Shepherd, all the way back to the dawn of mammals.
Kingsbridge Road, 4 Train
Once clear of Yankee Stadium, the 4 train runs north toward Van Cortlandt Park along a thoroughfare named by a society matron in a fit of pique.
Memorare
While AIDS is still a major killer around the world, it has become a manageable condition for most HIV-positive Americans. Bearing witness to a time when the mortal threat was closer to home.
Jello Biafra and the Politics of Punk
Having spent a quarter-century pushing Americans to face the music, the former Dead Kennedys vocalist sits down to tell his thoughts on Obama, political parties, and participatory democracy.
Meir Comes Clean
Sixty years after the founding of Israel, the pomp-and-circumstance of the anniversary--celebrated last week on the Jewish calendar and today on the secular one--prompts a different sort of recollection.
Cypress Hills, J Train
Turning an elevated corner, in the crook of which stands a decaying apartment, shades drawn to half-mast, darkness inside where life is shared with a world not paying attention, our writer does light research.
The Year of the Grey Rabbit
In 1979, as the U.S. became embroiled in the events that would develop into the current political climate, one man set out in search of America. Today, he remembers who he—and the country—were.
Hail Ira
Rosemary's Baby author Ira Levin died this week--and it wasn't a lousy book review that killed him.
Dianne Reeves
The jazz chanteuse talks about meeting a legend, experimenting with styles, and finding her own voice.
Ozymandias's Washington
Though the U.S. capital is home to scores of memorials, just a handful of them command the attention of most visitors. A tour of Washington's other monuments.
Cassandra Wilson, Impromptu
For singer Cassandra Wilson, some of the best music is composed on the fly, and if the entire performance is last-minute, so much the better.
Jazz Lessons With James "Blood" Ulmer
Growing up in a family that requires Saturday night recitals is a crash course in how to please a crowd. A conversation about a lifetime of commanding performances.
Yolkin
You've read much about Boris Yeltsin's legacy this week. His biggest may be the mean little man in the Kremlin who's the butt of few jokes.
Cecil Taylor Explains It All
Pianist Cecil Taylor stormed onto the New York City club scene in the 1950s, shaking the foundations of modern music with what would become known as free jazz. A conversation with the master.
The Strange Case of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, Part Two
When he arrived in Manhattan in 1630, Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert had a promising future. But cannibalism, sodomy, and a pet bear (not for sale) forever changed his life, and legacy.
The Strange Case of Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert
When he arrived in Manhattan in 1630, Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert had a promising future. But cannibalism, sodomy, and a pet bear (not for sale) forever changed his life, and legacy.
Moody's Mood for Bop
Jazz saxophone legend James Moody talks about how racism shaped his early career, what a "hot flute" can do for a repertoire, and encouraging budding musicians.
Soulmakers: The Story of Holland / Dozier / Amin
Through all the highs, lows, and violent overthrows, Motown was always about the music. Excerpts from a forthcoming book on the label's heady days, when a certain Ugandan was tearing through the ranks.
Around the City With Eliane Elias
Experienced musicians sometimes find it tempting to stick with already-established styles in their later albums. Jazz pianist Eliane Elias talks about breaking the mold.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Pogue
If only Shane MacGowan had been more persuasive, his Pogues might have been recognized as the greatest of all Irish bands.
The New Boss of Bossa Nova
Bossa nova was developed more than 40 years ago in Brazil, but one of its most lively contributors is working today in Brooklyn. A chat with Vinicius Cantuária about his music, how it's changed, and what inspires him.
What We Said
Amid the chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, we sought human contact--to speak and to listen. Five years later, we remember what we said.
Ahí Vamos: The Rock of Gustavo Cerati
Argentina's Soda Stereo may have lost its pop about 10 years ago, but since then guitarist Gustavo Cerati has proved his skills as a soloist many times over, leaving an indelible mark on rock en español.
The House of Truth
Washington's DuPont Circle may now be a posh address for lawyers and diplomats--and 4,000 Starbucks outlets--but it was once a bohemian hotseat for intellectuals.
Divino, Maravilhoso: The Splendor of Gal Costa
After 40 years in music, how's a singer keep things interesting? Talking with Brazil's treasure, Gal Costa, about how things change, and how they stay the same.
Here Is 47th Street
New York City’s diamond district is a zone of secret laws, hidden shops, and real-estate chicanery. Watching as one-block buff and guide Stephen Kilnisan pulls back the curtain.
Foolish Chances With Words
Laptops make writing easy to produce, and easy to erase. At least with typewriters you’re creating something that, however terrible, lives in the world.
While He Flatters He Bites
The New World was filled with many threats, dangers, and unseen evil--all of which sailed over in the form of one man: Cornelis Van Tienhoven, the bad sheriff of New Amsterdam.
Andres Levin's Musical Playground
When musician and producer Andres Levin plays with sound, he doesn't only create music, he fuses cultures.
Bill Laswell's Method of Defiance
Acclaimed bassist Bill Laswell has his own way of making music, and these days it involves some serious drum and bass. One performance, and a life's work.
A Path of Destruction
Since 1980, the Shining Path guerrillas in Peru have been responsible for over 30,000 deaths. So why, now that the organization is effectively dismantled, are the seeds for revolution still being planted?
A View From the Crow's Wood
You would've paid more attention in history class if they taught you what early Dutch settlements were really like. An opportunity to sift through the artifacts at an 18th century Hudson Valley home reveals a way of life that is as odd as it is oddly familiar.
A Dallas, Texas, of the Mind
A new computer game lets players compete to reenact the assassination of President Kennedy--from the vantage point of Lee Harvey Oswald.
What Would Teddy Do?
Last week Maine citizens voted on Question 2—whether or not to outlaw the “baiting, hounding, and trapping” of bears. So why didn’t such an apparently humane measure pass?
A Modest British American
When America is so despised around the world, it is too bad we’ve lost one of our best ambassadors. Our correspondent attends a memorial service for Alistair Cooke in Westminster Abbey and sees the 20th century’s greatest radio broadcaster remembered among the famous and the great.
A Tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Library
His father is known as a cheerful correspondent, while his predecessor just released a thousand-page memoir. How will Dub-Dub be remembered when his papers are collected?
French Film, French Film
A New York filled with memories. A New York filled with Mallomars. Mallomars filled with, er, you get the picture.
Joe Mitchell's Secret
Considered the best profile writer New York's ever seen, Joseph Mitchell's influence is unfortunately on the wane. Why today's prose-makers have lost their way.
Tunnel Visions
There may be a thousand art exhibits in the city at any time, but few are housed in an abandoned subway tunnel buried under Brooklyn.
Hart Island
New York City is a collection of islands, and one, Hart Island, is completely inaccessible, possibly because it's reserved for the dead. A report on the home of potter's field and an abandoned missile base.
Crooks and Longarms
Barring Times Square, nighttime New York is awash in a warm glow. Who do we thank for this? Why, our streetlamps! Investigating the rich history of light in the city.
The Illustrierter Bacillus
While looking through his parents' attic our writer finds the May 14, 1942, issue of the Nazi party propaganda paper Illustrierter Beobachter. Nobody has any idea how it got there. A look between the pages.
I Know You're Lonely for Words That I Ain't Spoken
Most people know that Bruce Springsteen has a new album out. But everyone knows that a man, shouting at Springsteen, partly inspired the new songs.
New York's Real Skyscrapers
The proposed designs for downtown Manhattan are roundly disappointing, particularly for their lack of imagination. How about some tulip poplars?
Prison on the Park
Central Park is a lot of things: the pastoral center of New York City, a relaxing stroll on a Saturday afternoon, a patch of grass lined with horse manure. It's also home to a minimum-security prison.
The All-Bastard Athletic Club
Meet the Bastards: a collection of the meanest baseball players who ever lived.