Poem

On Reflection

A poem

Grief

A poem

Why Sylvia Plath Still Haunts Us

Even half a century after her suicide, both her work and her life remain thrilling and horrifying.

1963: The Year the Beatles Found Their Voice

Listening to a young band rapidly assimilating and remixing genres it would soon transcend

When That 'Local,' 'Craft' Liquor You Pay Big Bucks for Is Neither

Distilling deceit

The Hair-Metal Diaries

In a new memoir, the lead singer of Ratt remembers what may be the most forgettable cultural phenomenon of the modern era.

The Love Life and Cultural Influence of Martin Amis

On the new biography of a literary Lothario

Can a Tuning Fork Improve Your Cocktail?

The theory and practice of serving a drink vibrated, not stirred

The Critics

A short story

Rodgers and Hart's Dysfunctional Partnership

Richard was disciplined and controlling. Lorenz was undisciplined, uncontrollable, and often drunk. But it worked.

The Housewife-Industrial Complex

How a TV franchise mutated into a demented hybrid of gossip generator and infomercial

Solving Jane Austen Puzzles

And new fiction by Elizabeth Strout. Two short book reviews.

Chapter and Verse: The Unknown Prose of a Great Poet

Reassessing the literary legacy of the Lost Generation's Edward Thomas

Inventing Marilyn

Anyone who thinks the story of Marilyn Monroe doesn't warrant such attention doesn't know much about it.

Reliving Groundhog Day

On the 20th anniversary of the beloved Bill Murray comedy, it’s time to recognize it as a profound work of contemporary metaphysics.

Getting Toasted

The drama (and sometimes danger) of the flaming cocktail

Indelible Images

Two beautiful new coffee-table books—except one isn’t really a book

Cover to Cover

The new Jonathan Dee novel, and the most intelligent biography of a fashion designer ever written

Serial Thriller

From literature to appointment television, episodic storytelling is flourishing.

Why Are Romantic Comedies So Bad?

The long decline from Katharine Hepburn to Katherine Heigl

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Comeback Artist

The Baroque sculptor’s audience has finally come around to his way of seeing the world.

The Beatles of Comedy

Monty Python's genius was to respect nothing.

Cover to Cover

The classical exactitude of Jed Perl; reappreciating Leviathan; and more

Whiskey Business

The regulatory ordeal of the American micro-distiller

Brideshead Regurgitated

The ludicrous charms of Downton Abbey, TV’s reigning aristo-soap

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

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