Sundials, Sentiments, and S-Town
S-Town , the record-breaking podcast released on March 28th to a wave of critical acclaim and (some concern), was envisioned by its creators to be a podcast as novel. Host...
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 return prompted multiple articles about whether...
The Rise and Fall of Pay Toilets
Ever wondered who first invented the pay toilet? The institution may just go back longer than you’d suspect. The Ancient Romans were not the first to have sophisticated sewers and...
Our Long Roanoke Nightmare
The sixth season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story premiered on September 14th after a lengthy campaign of intentional obfuscation, including 24 trailers that may or may not have had...
Does Science Destroy Wonder?
In his new book, The Kingdom of Speech, Tom Wolfe challenges the idea that language is a product of evolution, claiming it must have come through some other mechanism—namely, mnemonics....
“Stranger Things” and the Psychic Nosebleed
In the Netflix series Stranger Things, which has widely been declared the show of the summer, the tropes of 1980s popular culture are returned to us–some lovingly untouched, some turned...
Why Naming Anti-Gay Violence Matters
Immediately after the horrific mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, politicians of all stripes expressed sorrow and sympathy. But many avoided any mention of the shooter’s specific targeting...
Carla Hayden: Librarian of Congress
In February 2016, President Obama announced a groundbreaking nomination for Librarian of Congress: Carla Hayden. Boing Boing describes her as “rip-snortin’, copyfightin’, surveillance-hatin’, no-foolin’ ”—a silly way of saying she’s...
Why Racism Is Terrible for Everyone’s Health
Racism has shaped our health care policy since our very first forays into creating a social safety net. After the widely circulated footage of primarily white police officers injuring and...
Genetic Manipulation: The Next Big Thing
In science, the “big papers” (those that announce a major discovery or significant breakthrough) are usually found in the “big journals”: Cell, Nature, or Science. These publications are so high...