Summer Brennan

Summer Brennan is the author of The Oyster War (2015), High Heel (2019), and the forthcoming The Parisian Sphinx: A True Tale of Art and Obsession, a new biography of Victorine Meurent. Her ongoing nonfiction series The Book of the Courtesans and her newsletter A Writer’s Notebook can be found on Substack. She lives in Paris.

Art & Art History

A Natural History of the Wedding Dress

The history of the wedding dress is shorter than the history of weddings, and even shorter still than the history of marriage.

Editors' Picks

Arts & Culture

Girls Gone Greek

The most influential character on Showtime’s Yellowjackets is the one who goes unnamed: Dionysus.

Politics & History

Quintessential Resilience: The Breadfruit in the Caribbean

The breadfruit tree has coexisted with humans for more than three thousand years. Its future may depend on how strong of an ally humans can become to it.

Business & Economics

The Art of the Deal or the Dirt?

Will so-called Trump Tariffs ensure that the United States has the minerals it needs to transition to sustainable energy?

Politics & History

Greenland: Polar Politics

Though it may seem like a new topic of concern, the glaciated landscape of Greenland has floated in and out of American politics for decades.

Business & Economics

How Progressives Legalized Usury

In the early twentieth century, reformers united with capitalists to promote high-interest lending, overthrowing opposition to usury rooted in Christian tradition.

Summer Brennan

A Natural History of the Wedding Dress

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