Essays
Do You Actually Have to Finish That Novel?
A critic considers the strange moral pressure we feel to read to the very last page
Michel Chaouli
The Body I Couldn't Abstract
Motherhood reshaped how I see shame, art, and the female body
Megan O’Grady
Browse
Essays
The Talented Ms. Highsmith
I worked for the novelist in her final months. I thought she wanted to kill me.
Elena Gosalvez Blanco
June 9, 2025
The Ragpicker's Way
Among scraps and ruins, an artist gathers a different kind of archive
Edmund de Waal
May 13, 2025
The Post-Francis Church
Catholicism has long wrestled with tradition and modernity. Will the late pope’s legacy offer a way forward?
Jack Hanson
April 29, 2025
A View from Here
Trump's attacks on higher education and the work of a little magazine
Meghan O’Rourke
April 23, 2025
A Unified Theory of the Handbag
Was an accessory the secret to evolution?
Audrey Wollen
March 11, 2025
