John Adams’ “On the Transmigration of Souls,” After 9/11
How to memorialize a national tragedy in music?
A Bag of Old Songs from Elsewhere
Sidney Robertson Cowell might be starting to get the attention her rich life, first-rate writing, and broad work as an ethnomusicologist deserve.
Viral Black Death: Why We Must Watch Citizen Videos of Police Violence
We should acknowledge and absorb the pain captured in videos of police violence, just as antiracist activists bore witness in the past to lynchings.
The Politics of Kindness in 2016
Kindness matters. It’s just that our politicians have their own reasons for their own kind behavior.
The Bloody History of the True Crime Genre
True Crime is having a renaissance with popular TV series and podcasts. But the history of the genre dates back much further.
Goodbye to the Barbershop?
The decline of barbershops is not a sign of a disintegrating culture of manhood, but rather a transformation of masculinity.
Risqué and Radical: Benzion Liber’s X-Rated Yiddish Sex Guide
In 1915, Dr. Benzion Liber published a book that described good sex, pregnancy, childbirth, masturbation, sex education, and venereal diseases…in Yiddish.
Can Virtual Reality Emerge as a Tool for Conservation?
New advances in technology are sparking efforts to use virtual reality to help people gain a deeper appreciation of environmental challenges.
Will Reading Romance Novels Make Artificial Intelligence More Human?
Google is feeding its natural language AI thousands of romance novels in an effort to humanize its “conversational tone.” Will this give it "humanness?"
Why Was Turkish Delight C.S. Lewis’s Guilty Pleasure?
Austerity during WWII was hardly the time for pounds of exotic candy. Yet The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe prominently features Turkish delight.