✍️ Literature

• 🖨️Reclaiming the Cliché

  What is it that makes the output of large language models and other varieties of generative AI so interesting, and then so boring? For me the most useful operative metaphor for AI’s promise and problems is the cliche.

• 🗣️In Order to Form a More Tongue-Tied Union

  Transforming solemn political promises into a verbal obstacle course

• 🍷A Glass at Least Half Full

  Explore how cultures embody optimism through literature and debate whether this outlook is rational or delusional in our latest study review.

• 🐻The True Winnie-the-Pooh

  Discover the true WWI story behind Winnie-the-Pooh! Learn how a real Canadian bear cub named Winnie inspired A.A. Milne's beloved character.

• 🌳The Road Less Traveled

  Journey back to August 1915 as Robert Frost publishes "The Road Not Taken," forever changing American poetry with its famous diverging roads.

• 🔗Writers and Intellectuals Under Threat

  A New Toolkit for Activists Fighting to Document Repression and Protect Free Expression

• 🎗️The Everything Happens Project

  Fostering new and needed conversations about tragedy, hope, and beauty

• 🔒Writers and Intellectuals Under Threat - Documenting Limits on Free Expression

  Explore how modern tech curtails free speech and a new PEN America project tracking threats against global intellectuals.

• 🌌A Night for the Ages

  Marcelo Gleiser receives the 2019 Templeton Prize at the Met, blending ancient myths with cutting-edge cosmology in an unforgettable ceremony.

• 📜The Long Tale of ‘Brother John’

  A monk, an umbrella, an essay — and many changed lives

• 🏆Who Were the First Women to Win Nobel Prizes?

  Explore the pioneering women who shattered Nobel Prize ceilings, from Marie Curie's double win to trailblazers in peace, literature, and medicine.

• 📜Articles | European History for History.com

  I had quite a bit of fun writing these pieces on European topics for History.com, exploring figures and events that shaped the continent.

• 🕯️Good art in dark times

  A thought-provoking exploration of the role of fiction in reflecting and transcending the darkness of our times.

• 🧤We don't believe because we don't recall

  A reflection on how our interactions with memories and artifacts shape our experience of beauty and loss, inspired by Proust's poignant insights.

• 📖Knowing the end of the story

  From a study on storytelling, it seems that knowing the outcome can enhance the experience of both short stories and mysteries.

• 📚The joys and perils of overlapping reading

  Reflecting on the complexities of reading and the intertwining influences of contrasting narratives, the author shares a personal struggle with parallel reading of profound figures.

• 🎨Design, color, and cultural power

  A Portuguese communication designer reflects on the cultural richness of her students in Mozambique and their misconceptions about design practices.

• 📚Love and language

  Elif Batuman reflects on her journey through love, literature, and the unexpected choices we make.

• 📚Language that does not forget the world of nouns

  Sven Birkerts reflects on the enduring value of novels in a digital age where concentration is a challenge to be fought for.

• 🎨Calligraphy by Ahmed Shahnawaz Alam

  Exploring the timeless beauty of poetry through the artistry of calligraphy.

• 🎭Unintentional Easter quotation of the day

  Quoting Orson Welles.

• 🦁As sherp as muckle needles

  Here's a delightful excerpt that showcases the charm of Scots language through a whimsical tale featuring beloved characters from a classic series.

• 🎬Two clichés make us laugh. A hundred clichés move us

  Eco explores how _Casablanca_ transcends clichés to unveil narrative power and emotional depth.

• 🪓Axe Cop!

  A unique collaboration between a child’s imagination and an adult's artistry brings to life the adventures of Axe Cop.

• 🎶A graphical analysis of national anthem lyrics

  My quest to learn "La Marseillaise" led me to explore the curious and often violent lyrics of national anthems from around the world.

• 🎶The book of love is long and boring…

  A reflection on Peter Gabriel's upcoming album and its interpretation of beloved songs, highlighting the emotions they evoke.

• 🎭Twenty years of unintended consequences

  Quoting the Simpsons.

• 🌈Ecstatically between the pillows and the books

  In this excerpt from David Foster Wallace's _The Pale King_, the author explores the intertwining of childhood ecstasy and maternal love through evocative imagery and a sense of magic in the everyday.

• 🚉If you board the wrong train ..

  Quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

• 📜Characters for an Epic Tale, by Tom Gauld

  I love how the content of a narrative can be projected just from a list of characters.

• 📞Ahoy, I love you, won’t you tell me your name

  Discover the fascinating history behind the word "hello" and its profound connection to the invention of the telephone.

• 😇The peril of sainthood

  Quoting Dorothy Day.

• 🎨Unimportant enough to be criticized

  A reflection on Dave Hickey's "Frivolity and Unction," exploring the idea that the perceived importance of art can hinder genuine appreciation and critique.

• 📚Butterfly in the sky, I could go twice as high

  Reflecting on the impact of _Reading Rainbow_, a beloved show that fostered a love of reading in children, its cancellation marks a shift in educational programming priorities.

• 📚There are no televisions here

  In an exploration of Paju Book City, Edwin Heathcole captures the tension between the fantastical vision of a city dedicated to literature and its stark physical surroundings.

• 🦚Like a cheer for an invisible parade

  Quoting Flannery O'Connor.

• 🦋Shelter and daring

  Quoting Eudora Welty

• 🛋️Project Gatsby

  I've just written another essay for Comment Magazine, exploring a love letter to my college couch, accompanied by a short film that captures its essence.

• 🎙️Flannery’s voice

  Flannery O'Connor's Southern dialect contrasts with Northern literary circles, revealing insights about language and identity in American literature.

• 🌊One works and works for something, which then happens of its own accord

  Reflecting on the nature of political transformation and the interplay of effort and grace, Weschler captures the essence of spontaneous uprising in his writings.

• 🎨Making makes you care

  Quoting Louis Menand.

• 🗺️More delicate

  Quoting Elizabeth Bishop.

• 🎨Jennifer Daniel for the Baltimore City Paper

  Darn good advice captured in a creative illustration about storytelling and genre.

• 📚Astrid Stampe’s Picture Book, by Hans Christian Andersen

  A glimpse into the charming world of Hans Christian Andersen's picture books for the young and imaginative.

• 🎭Containing multitudes

  Zadie Smith reflects on the contrasting expectations for artists and politicians in her essay "Speaking in Tongues."

• 😂Tolstoy on world-changing

  I've been enjoying a quite funny article about Tolstoy in the latest Harper's.

• 📚Accomplices in creation

  Virginia Woolf explores the intricate relationship between readers and texts, urging us to engage as co-creators rather than mere critics.

• ✍️Inklings into thoughts and thoughts into words

  John Updike reflects on the creative process of transforming thoughts into words and printed form.

• 🏆Cape Canaveral, by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

  Reflecting on the sweetness of victory, even from the sidelines.

• 📚We speak volumes

  From Penelope Lively's _Moon Tiger_, a reflection on the nature of language and memory.