Close-up of E.L. Doctorow in black and white

E.L. Doctorow On New York

Literary giant E.L. Doctorow died in New York — where he lived his entire life — on 07/21. In a 1995 interview, Doctorow reveals what the city meant to him.
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“Between the World and Me”: Ta-Nehisi Coates and the Legacy of James Baldwin

Toni Morrison has compared writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to James Baldwin; find out why here.
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Still Visible: William Styron’s Memoir of Madness 25 Years Later

An interview with the daughter of William Styron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sophie's Choice.
Still from the film "Ex-Machina" depicting Ava examining potential faces

Ex Machinations in the Turing Test

Artificial Intelligence and the Turing Test.
"Soda Fountain" painted on the front of a store

Cat’s Eyes and Belch Water: 1930s Soda Jerk Slang from A to Z

Soda Jerk slang from 1934 and 1935.
Cartoon character Underdog

How Second-Wave Feminists Saw Saturday Morning Cartoons

Before the Bechdel test, second-wave feminists looked at sexist portrayals in Saturday Morning cartoons
Still from MTV's Catfish depicting Nev Schulman and Max Joseph investigating

Gone (Cat)Fishing: How Language Detectives Tackle Online Anonymity

Linguistic clues might be the solution to identifying anonymous online users.
An illustration from Alice in Wonderland depicting Alice's encounter with a hookah smoking caterpillar

Off With Their Heads! Alice In Wonderland Turns 150

How Alice in Wonderland changed how we look at time and space.
Bruce Holsinger

The Medieval Historical Figures Behind Bruce Holsinger’s Novels

Discover the real men Bruce Holsinger based his characters on.
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All About That Taboo: When Good Words Go Bad

The phenomenon of sacres, or taboo words that start from fairly innocuous beginnings.