Mozart Would Wince at Our Loud Pianos

By Jeannette Cooperman

Today’s pianist, Daniel Adam Maltz, is performing not on a big glossy piano but on the instrument Mozart wrote for: the elegant little Viennese fortepiano.

Arts & Letters | Dispatches

What if Today’s Elite Were Forced into Exile?

By Jeannette Cooperman

Rebellious eccentrics, these artists were brave in their art and, once they had to be, brave in reality. Had they been able to stay, safe and adored, in Paris, they would have remained remote to us, wrapped in mystique. In exile, they were vulnerable.

Society & Culture | Dispatches

Get Ready for Roadkill

By Ben Fulton

Roadkill resides at the end of the spectrum where our adoration for animals ends and nuisance begins.

Science & Nature | Dispatches

007 at 70

By Colin Burnett

In 2023, the Bond franchise celebrates its 70th anniversary. Very few franchises, with the exception of the Universal Classic Monsters and Godzilla series, have enjoyed such a long life in the popular media of film. Like them, the Bond franchise has seen many new beginnings that continually restart the property, perpetually reset it, and are bound to do so again.

Uncategorized | Essays

Does Anyone Still Care about Baseball?

By Gerald Early

Why We Love Baseball is an enjoyable book. It is well-written, tugging at the heartstrings one moment, being like Ripley’s Believe It or No” in another. There are lots of good portions here for St. Louis Cardinals fans, and aspects of the book could actually appeal to people who are indifferent to baseball. Still, this book is clearly for fans.

Reviews

Can Intense Birding Save a Family from Mental Illness?

By Joan E. Strassmann

Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future is inspiring for those looking to change the world, for those wanting an adventure story, and for those concerned about mental illness.

Reviews

The Five Best Films of the Blaxploitation Era

By Zachary Manditch-Prottas

While dismissed by Hollywood as a handy trend, Blaxploitation has earned a shaky status in the history of film and Black cultural history at large. The propensity to elicit loaded for or against debates has led to equally overwrought praise and scorn for these films. A half-century after Blaxploitation’s bombastic introduction, quick rise, and equally quick fall, we would do well to revisit, and reconsider, those films that best exemplify the still prickly term.

Uncategorized | Essays

The Arrival of Asian American Culture

By Daniel K. Woo

Perhaps, given our recent claim to greater visibility and the fact that RISE is arguably the first volume of its kind—especially as a “pop history of Asian America”—overzealous readers like myself may hastily expect it to be the Asian American story.

Reviews

Abracadabra! The Magic of Words

By Jeannette Cooperman

We forget to ask what our own words are bringing into existence.

Arts & Letters | Dispatches

Inarticulate Jann Wenner Dislikes Inarticulate Blacks and Women

By Gerald Early

Alas, it is not the music that is the relic but Wenner himself.

Arts & Letters | Dispatches

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