How Charles Dickens Set the American Christmas Dinner Table
How did a religious celebration turn into a holiday that is all about home, family, and Christmas dinner? Turns out Charles Dickens has a lot to do with it.
The Art of Cutting Up Shakespeare
We should acknowledge the connection between cuts as bodily violence and cuts as violent ways of making art.
Rory Gilmore: The New New Woman
Recently, Netflix brought us the Gilmore Girls revival–Rory, Lorelei, and Emily 10 years on, able to “end” the show as its creator intended.
The Collapse of Meaning in a Post-Truth World
2016 was certainly an unstable time in history. Even the way we use language to convey our collective fears about the state of society seems fractured.
The American Counter-Narrative of Ledger Drawings
Plains Indian ledger drawings offer a rich counter-narrative to the often-glamorized, or forgotten, history of the American West.
What Madame Bovary Revealed About the Freedom of the Press
Gustave Flaubert was put on trial for obscenity. Why didn't he fight government censorship harder?
Jane Austen and the Value of Flaws
Jane Austen is known for self-assured heroines and love stories. But she also wrote a lot about the importance of being wrong.
How Trump’s Generals May Change Washington
President-elect Donald Trump formally named Marine ex-General James Mattis his nominee for Secretary of Defense, following his pick ...