Essay Comedy Once Upon a Time in the West By Ben Tarnoff How a simple story of a man and his talented frog made Mark Twain a national celebrity. More
Essay Lines of Work Pushing Paper By Ben Kafka Paperwork has never fit comfortably into our idea of what work means—it has no heroes and few sympathies. More
Essay Medicine Dissection By Meehan Crist Medical students are forced to change their perceptions of the dead. There is a human instinct that must be overcome to stick knives and fingers into human flesh. More
Essay Democracy In the People’s House There Are Many Mansions By Thomas Geoghegan Why we need more DIY government. More
Essay Swindle & Fraud Rogue Wounds By Daniel Mason Playing ill or feigning madness has been a con for hundreds of years. But can a fake sickness become a real sickness? More
Essay Disaster Pressure Drop By Simon Winchester Exploring—and ignoring—climate chaos in the South Pacific. More
Essay Arts & Letters In the Gloom the Gold By Jamie James Consider the legacy of Ezra Pound—no poet has ever been so influential, so controversial, and so little read. More
Essay Luck Our Savior By Ludmilla Petrushevskaya Magical stories come and go, but the song remains the same. There is no way we can escape our destinies. More