The Ecological Prescience of Dune
Frank Herbert’s novel isn't just about space messiahs, giant sandworms, and trippy space drugs. At its core, the sci-fi epic is about ecology.
Would You Let Your Servant Read This Book?
How the ban on D. H. Lawrence's book Lady Chatterley's Lover was reversed.
The Power of Sibling Bonds in The Brothers Karamazov
In the year of Dostoevsky's bicentennial, a revisiting of familial relationships in one of his most popular works.
The Ghosts of Slavery in Charles Chesnutt’s Fiction
What begins as a magical escape from the horrors of plantation life soon turns into a spine-chilling testament to slavery’s dehumanizing effects.
How to Hear Images and See Sounds
Artists Shannon Finnegan and Andy Slater talk accessibility, transdimensional hearing, alt-text as poetry, sound descriptions, and Instagram captions for McSweeney’s Audio Issue.
Science and Slavery in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko
In one of the first novels written in English, a West African prince, fascinated with navigation, boards a ship for a fateful journey.
Why Mystery Fiction Is So Engaging
Tracking down the killer appeal of the hit show Only Murders in the Building.
Wang Wei, Poet of Buddhist Emptiness
Focusing almost exclusively on nature, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei expressed the philosophy of the Chan school.
10 Poems for National Hispanic Heritage Month
One of the most meaningful ways to celebrate the month between September 15 and October 15 may be to lend our attention to verse.