The Totally “Destructive” (Yet Oddly Instructive) Speech Patterns of… Young Women?
Two years ago, this column sprang into life by enthusiastically wading into the absurdly long-running debate about some ...
P.G. Wodehouse, Great American Humorist?
Should P.G. Wodehouse, creator of the ditzy Wooster and inimitable Jeeves, be considered an American humorist as well as a master of British farce?
Speaking for the Trees
David George Haskell's book The Song of the Trees: Stories From Nature's Great Connectors, explores trees' connections with various communities.
Did Victorians Really Get Brain Fever?
The melodramatic descriptions of "fevers" in old novels reveal just how frightening the time before modern medicine must have been.
Flannery O’Connor’s Moments of Grace
Flannery O'Connor employed grotesqueness and violence in her stories to illustrate the workings of grace on her characters.
Kathleen Rooney’s Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Move over flâneur, here comes the flâneuse, the female version of the famous French walkers.
The Man Who Pulled the First Houdini
Harry Houdini wasn't always famous for his daring escapes. A look at how the humble Hungarian immigrant became the world's most famous magician.
Did the Internet Kill the TV Cliffhanger?
The internet may have changed the concept of the television cliffhanger, but is it possible that knowing the ending of something increases our enjoyment?
Why Drive-Ins Were More Than Movie Theaters
Drive-ins embodied the suburbanization of middle class families -- and created an entirely new way of watching the movies.
A New Novel Explores Art Theft, History, and Child Refugees
Ellen Umansky's novel The Fortunate Ones explores the psychological fallout of the World War II Kindertransport, which moved child refugees to England.