“The Poet Is a Man Who Feigns”
Portuguese modernist Fernando Pessoa channeled a grand, glorious chorus of writers—heteronyms, he called them—robust inventions of his unique imagination.
Digital Overload
How can contemporary biographers contend with the explosion of materials at their disposal?
Honey Cocaine’s Unexpected Cambodian Canadian Life Story
The Toronto rapper embraces a patois-inflected “bad gal” image to tell a deeply personal story about historical violence.
The Scholars Charting Black Music’s Timeline: Douglas Henry Daniels & Paul Austerlitz
Daniels and Austerlitz tell the story of jazz, from its origins in the blues, gospel, and funk to its impact on music around the world.
Mermaids: Myth, Kith and Kin
Ariel epitomizes mermaids now, but these beguiling creatures precede her by millennia, sparking imaginations the world over with a hearty embrace of otherness.
Christian Dior vs. Christian Dior
The designer’s impulse to convey his two selves to the public stemmed from a desire to be seen as genuine artist working in a world of artifice.
Transgender Legal Battles: A Timeline
New laws regarding transgender youth are based on the assumption that the gender binary is natural.
The Groundbreaking Work of Jackie Ormes
The first Black woman to have a regularly published comic strip, Ormes gave form to the political and social concerns of Black Americans.
Muhammad Speaks for Freedom, Justice, and Equality
The official newspaper of the Nation of Islam—published from 1960-1975—combined investigative journalism and Black Nationalist views on racial uplift.