Essays

Essays

Toni Morrison’s Native Figures

A new reading of race in her novels
Namwali Serpell
Folio

How LLMs Set My Fiction Free

Writing no longer felt like experimenting. AI made it fun again.
Christopher Sorrentino
Folio

My AI Boyfriend

A cynic enters the data pool
Lauren Oyler
Folio

Chasing Alice

The life and death of a chatbot
Sheila Heti
Folio

Donna Haraway’s Utopian Promise

We were supposed to become feminist cyborgs. Instead, we got ChatGPT.
Meghan O’Gieblyn
Folio

Jagged Intelligence

The dangerous unknowns at the heart of LLMs
Melanie Mitchell

Browse

Essays

Film

Terrence Malick’s Disciples

Why the auteur is the most influential director in Hollywood
Bilge Ebiri
December 15, 2025
Dan Fox as a child with his nain, or grandmother, in the chicken-filled yard of Siambr Wen, near Llanrwst, North Wales, UK
Essays

What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh

By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox
December 15, 2025
Essays

When Does a Divorce Begin?

Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian
December 15, 2025
Sepia toned photograph showing painter Joan Mitchell behind a canvas in her studio
Essays

The Unfolding of Time in Paint

My encounters with Joan Mitchell's panels
Rachel Cohen
December 11, 2025
Essay of the Week

Who Was the Foodie?

What it would mean to take taste seriously again
Alicia Kennedy
November 17, 2025
Black-and-white photo of Susan Brownmiller with a copy of her book Against Our Will
Essay of the Week

The Book That Changed How We Think About Rape

Fifty years on, what lessons endure from Against Our Will?
Claire Bond Potter
November 10, 2025
A still of Ayo Edebiri and Julia Roberts in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt
Essay of the Week

What “After the Hunt” Gets Right

I left academia. Luca Guadagnino’s new film reminds me why.
Annie Julia Wyman
November 3, 2025
Essays

An Incomplete Mentorship

Ellen Bryant Voigt helped me become the writer I am today. After a falling out, we never spoke again.
Rachel Jamison Webster
October 30, 2025
Taylor Swift in an embellished white military coat and booties under a cloud of confetti during the Eras Tour
Essay of the Week

How We’ve Misunderstood Taylor Swift

The Life of a Showgirl received mixed reviews from fans and critics. But it may be her most honest work yet.
Stephanie Burt
October 20, 2025
Essay of the Week

How Sober Should a Writer Be?

F. Scott Fitzgerald and the ambivalence of American drinking culture
Sloane Crosley
October 6, 2025