The Year That Was and Wasn’t
We asked some of our favorite journalists, writers, and thinkers: What were the most important events of 2021, and what were the least?
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A collection of 83 issues
The Writing of Art
Protesters are clashing in the street over paintings. What is it, whether in art or literature, that makes one thing better than another?
Press Rewind
What one journalist learned by vicariously sitting in on David Carr’s master class—with only his teacher’s reputation, extant syllabus, and students’ recollections to guide the way.
Meet the Flintstones
How to give away a house in Flint, Michigan, home not only to a water scandal but record violence.
Paper Citizen
America is a proud nation of immigrants—try telling that to everyone on the other side of the door. Life as a white-collar undocumented immigrant in New York.
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 Orchestra Checks Its Email
A day in the life of a professional orchestra—coffee, practice, social media, tuxedo—leading up to a performance.
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.
The View From Up Here
Class isn’t supposed to exist in America, unless it’s overcome. But the art of being upwardly mobile doesn’t always come easy.
Union Square Sports Bar
An adventure of food and drink in San Francisco naturally expands to include Ornette Coleman, Mexican wedding cookies, and a pet monkey admiring the ocean.
Gods and Kings and Middle Managers
Recent astronomical discoveries have expanded our understanding of the universe—and messed up godhead performance reviews.
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.
Like Pushing an Elephant Into a Volkswagen
Writers who haven’t quit their day jobs, who cram in the writing hours around full-time work, discuss juggling office life, family, and creativity.
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.
Blues on Wheels
A writer becomes a carrier for the United States Postal Service out of a long-held love for the mail. What she discovers are screams, threats, lies, labor violations, and dog attacks.
Terrapin Station
All the magic of the Mojave Desert, or the Amazon rainforest, can be found in the salt marshes of New Jersey.
Thoroughly Modern Marxism
A Marxist upbringing, graduating into a recession, and a lineage of missed opportunities make a brutal combination.
Dear Daughter, Your Mom
Drawing inspiration from those who went before, and those still to come, in the waitress wars.
The Übersinner
Reddit's “Ask Me Anything” interviews—edited for the seven deadly sins—provide an Idolatry of Self so big, it produces Zen koans.
The Absolute Minimum
Highlights from a reading of 200-plus letters to the editor, from newspapers in all 50 states, to determine what Crazy America thinks about raising—or lowering—the minimum wage.
Game Face
Even someone who writes erotica for a living has to find ways to get through moments of shame.
Essaying Through Life
A youthful pledge to become an essayist gets lost.
The Unofficial Roger Ebert Reader on Addiction
When Roger Ebert died, America was deprived of one of its finest critics. We also lost one of our best writers on addiction.
Tale of the Transcription Tape
Sometimes a love scene calls for [WHIMPERS], sometimes it needs [YELPS], but knowing which one to use makes all the difference. The secret life of a professional closed captioner.
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.
The Window Cleaner
Dirt is difficult to see on glass. That’s why so many people don't bother to hire a professional for the job—they just can’t see what’s wrong.
Spies Like Them
A group of gray-haired representatives from across Europe gather in a central London gentlemen's club to discuss the United States' aggressive spying techniques.
The University of Marias
Daily life can wear you down when your freshman-year roommates are gray-haired and flirting with dementia. Then again, the best lessons may come that way.
We Are the Resurrection
A reporter spends a season trailing one of London's most infamous soccer clubs while its soul is rebuilt from scratch. A cautionary tale—for New Yorkers, especially—of super fans, gonzo money, and the doctrine that is "organic football."
Start of Darkness
The world of the myope is often a nicer place—faces lack wrinkles, and trees seem to be painted by Monet. Then, during a visit to Moscow, a black spot appears.
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.
Everyone Popes
Former Pope Benedict XVI has left the Vatican, returning to his former life. But even with the church's retirement package, how can private citizenship compare? A poem for Mr. Ratzinger.
Game Over
The NFL is an emperor with no clothes, no morals, and vaults of gold. As we prepare for Super Bowl XLVII, author Dave Zirin explains how greed and corruption have ruined the game, endangered players, and fleeced the public.
Ben Fountain
Our man in Boston sits down for an extended chat with the author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, covering Kissinger's travel woes, the beauty of track meets, and the very best place to be a fiction writer in America: Dallas.
Attica Locke
Our man in Boston talks to screenwriter and novelist Attica Locke about writing in Hollywood, the origins of her second novel, and where exactly British prisoners locate the moral heart of The Wire.
The Death of Farmbrain
These days, everyone seems to enjoy tending chickens and eating local. But lifestyles are rarely ways of life, and the grain that goes into our daily bread is still easiest to obtain from giant operations. Visiting a dying small farm shows why.
Catlike DIY
A long-ignored home improvement project awaits. The tools and materials are at the ready, and there's nothing to stop you. Then enters a cat named Jeeves.
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.
Under the Bridge Downtown
When you’re a competition-level grocery-store bagger, it’s easy to overlook the messy lives of your co-workers. But when one of them goes missing, and you start to grow up, the picture changes.
Down and Out in a Repurposed Troop Carrier
Stunt memoirs are ubiquitous: writers who eat, pray, and love straight into their bank accounts. But what happens when the material for your book—for which you took a dozen amusement park jobs to acquire—isn’t all hijinks and zany locals? What if it’s rather nice?
Jess Walter
Our man in Boston sits down with the author of The Financial Lives of the Poets to talk about his latest novel, how to survive in Hollywood, the ins and outs of contemporary publishing, and that unheralded Paris of the Northwest, Spokane.
Entertainment for Women
When it launched, Playboy was a literary power, nude photos or not. Its offices also happened to be an interesting place to work—for women.
The City of Right Angles
When your daily commute to the office means speeding on two wheels up busy avenues, a meeting with a crosstown taxi cab can change your life. But sometimes being a New Yorker requires taking the city head on.
Therapist, Know Thyself
For psychotherapists, maintaining a stable, flawless public image is critical. But when a marriage and family counselor actually goes through a mid-life crisis herself, all bets are off and here come the tattoos, affairs, and professional infidelities.
Hammer of the Dads
Joining a band at middle age can feel like a juvenile, shameful pursuit, until you consider all the gear you get to buy. A report on purchasing earplugs and playing live—but why are the crowds so small?—when you're 40.
Life After Long-Term Unemployment
You wanted it. You were willing to give up BBC dramas for it. Now it’s time to readjust to the working life. Welcome back.
Standup Comity
If a person tells a joke in a forest and doesn’t get a laugh—that’s how you know he or she’s a true comic. A report from the 2011 International Society for Humor Studies Conference, where so-called experts of comedy submit themselves to professionals to be critiqued.
How to Paint an Oak Tree
A man who spent three years painting the same English tree repeatedly—in all weather, day and night—explains how exactly, and why.
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.
On the Beat
In a North Carolina mountain town, the cops are good old boys, the sheriff’s a teddy bear, and the chief conducts drug raids in his head. All of which spells nothing good for a Mexican caught with a carful of guns, or for the town’s “Cop Beat” reporter.
Holidays-in-Law
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, tips for a productive working vacation with your extended family.
The Day Borders Got the Wobblies
As Borders liquidates its merchandise, a former employee of store #21 looks back at a glorious workplace—of quirky managers, Borders gypsies, the odyssey to stack more than Hobby/Collectibles—and the moment when salvation seemed at hand to save the chain.
Nuts to You
From 2011, an ode to the pleasures of vulgarity, in which a bookseller tries to give every customer one unsafe moment. And, yes—that’s what she said.
The Sex Trade in Northwest Wisconsin
In a small town with a withering economy, rebellion is choosing college over your job at the X-rated drive-in.
Define the Ratio of People to Cake
After the world's oddest job-interview questions, from companies like Citigroup and Facebook, were revealed, our writer decided to take all of them to prove he's hirable anywhere.
How the Dead Live
There's a peculiar odor to burning hope--it's the smell of exhaust fumes, human sweat, and a fast-food container interred under a seat cushion.
State of Play
Does your minor want to be a miner? How about a McNugget cook? Welcome to KidZania, a revolutionary theme park coming soon to the U.S. that lets kids play at corporate-sponsored employment.
Work Is a Four-Letter Word
After 15 months of unemployment, our writer lands a job—complete with benefits, direct deposit, and a modern workspace design. Time to shop for dumpy sweaters.
When the Crescendo Is the Least of Your Worries
After practicing with his iPod—and feeling pretty good, actually—a novice discovers the extreme fear of conducting a professional orchestra.
Give and Take
December is the season for taking: taking money from strangers; taking care to avoid crying on the phone. Holiday confessions from a charity call-center employee.
My Kingdom for a Ginger Beard
Faced with a city full of strangers, you do what anyone would do: You give them nicknames and puzzle out their stories. Herewith, the story of an unemployed redhead.
A Question of Bandwidth
Walk across the office, or send an email? A look at how much time we save—or not—when we opt for the technological solution.
My Name on My Milk
After belt-tightening forces relocation to a boarding house in Yonkers, our writer learns the ropes of his new situation, where hallways lead to the most unexpected places.
Singing It Over Again
When you're used to regular doses of applause, giving up the stage for a 9-to-5 gig can produce acute withdrawal. Reclaiming past glories by singing backup.
The Rough Cut
When you share your life with a reality TV editor, you learn that reality often winds up on the cutting-room floor.
She Ordered Sausage
After his job is jeopardized by unwanted advances toward a co-worker, a writer revises a porn script while undergoing harassment-prevention training.
Interview With the Genie
For man and djinn alike, a soft economy makes for a tight job market.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Winners
Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has been picked to lead the war in Afghanistan, and on only one meal a day. One week spent in the general's reduced-calorie footsteps.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate Family
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. We step in with some last-minute advice for a reader confused by a Christmas party conundrum: Do friends and family mix?
Murder and the Masseuse
Many of us imagine killing our bosses; some people actually take it a little further. Meet a woman who got into the massage business to avoid a homicide rap.
What It Means to Miss New Orleans
The accuracy of Fox's new police drama K-Ville can only be known by the cops working in post-Katrina New Orleans. An interview with Police Lieutenant Bryant Wininger, who explains where the real drama still is, free of storylines and plot twists.
Part Three
Continuing to pore through Charlotte's blog leads to some strange revelations, surprising moves, and a conclusion, of sorts.
Part Two
Discovering a co-worker's blog means having to find out if you've been written about. Along the way, however, you will learn things you weren't supposed to know.
Part One
In the first of a three-part fiction series, a co-worker exhibits intriguing new qualities, and life at the office gets shaken up.
The Future of Organized Labor
From economists to politicians, pundits the nation over argue organized labor is fast becoming extinct. If unions survive, it's safe to assume not much will change when it comes to ground-level operations. People, after all, will be people. And robots will be robots.
I, Servant
Admitting you have a problem is a big hurdle to face, but confessing you need help can be even more difficult, especially when you're forced to choose your own path. So: Will it be robot or monkey?
The Intramural Sports of Kings
The signup sheet in the break room wants you and your co-workers to meet at the park on Saturday for a game of softball. For some it may just be fun, but for others it'll be pure competition.
Tricks of the Trade
For every occupation, there is a catalog of secrets only its employees know—such as how waiters with heavy platters know to look straight ahead, and never down. Armed with a bag of reader mail, we unfurl a whole lot more true insider knowledge.
Raises & Terror
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we explain how to get the raise you deserve using the only appropriate method for today's terror-ific world.
Defenestrate Your Résumé!
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we explain how to impress any HR department with a top-notch résumé.
The Key to a Successful Freelance Career: A Diary
As more people work at home and telecommute, you can bet that the The View is expanding its influence.
How to Get Promoted
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we lead a primer on how to get promoted. With a rocket-cycle and everything.
Dude, You’re Getting a Dell and Other Success Stories
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an actor not in possession of a private fortune must be in want of a commercial. Lessons learned on how to win the audition.