Arakawa and Gins: An Eternal Architecture
With the Reversible Destiny Foundation, architect-philosophers Arakawa and Gins created disquieting designs meant to defeat mortality.
Fredric Wertham, Cartoon Villain
Wertham convinced 1950s America that comic books led to depravity. He also used his extremist views to raise money for an anti-racist clinic in Harlem.
Separated by a Common Language in Singapore
Singapore English is famous for its sentences that end with the particle lah. But what does it mean when people use the particle one instead?
Katherine Mansfield and Anton Chekhov
Living in exile in Germany, the young New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield found solace in studying—and copying—Chekhov’s short stories.
Archival Adventures in the Abernethy Collection
An archival collection shared by Middlebury College invites the curious to make connections across the history of American literature.
The Development of Central American Film
A new collection of essays examines the reasons behind the recent boom in feature and documentary film-making from Belize to Panama.
Remembering Maud Lewis
A symbol of resilience and resourcefulness, Lewis remains one of Canada’s best-loved and most-celebrated folk artists.
Exploring the Yardbird Reader
Initiated under the editorial directorship of Ishmael Reed, Yardbird made room in publishing for marginalized artists from many walks of life.
But Why a Penguin?
Penguin Books built on an already strong tradition of branding through cute mascot “media stars” when they introduced their cartoon bird in 1935.
Shakespeare and Fanfiction
Despite an enduring slice of audience that treats his work as precious and mythic, most Shakespeare fans have rarely met an adaptive concept they didn’t like.