Le Guin’s Subversive Imagination by Michael Chabon We recently passed what would have been Ursula K. Le Guin’s ninetieth birthday, and we’re approaching the two-year anniversary of her death. I suppose either of those momentous dates might have inspired Michael … Continue reading Outside Reading — Human Community edition
This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad by Taffy Brodesser-Akner Taffy Brodesser-Akner is the ace of The New York Times staff of writers covering celebrity culture, often taking on more prickly subject and giving a telling prominence … Continue reading Outside Reading — Neighborly edition
Filthy Rich by Michelle Dean HBO’s Succession was amusing and sharp-elbowed in its first season. For the recently concluded second season, the series engaged a creative turbo boost that rocketed it to delirious new heights. Writing for The New York … Continue reading Outside Reading — Thank You for the Chicken edition
Why I Haven’t Gone Back to SCOTUS Since Kavanaugh by Dahlia Lithwick For a long time, Dahlia Lithwick was my favorite writer on the Supreme Court beat. Reporting on the goings on at the last depot for the nation’s rickety … Continue reading Outside Reading — Hard Court edition
The Chefs Reinventing the Midwestern Supper Club by Ligaya Mishan Prompted by a Brooklyn restaurant that took its decor from a Northern Wisconsin supper club that shut down, this New York Times article is a wildly enjoyable survey of the … Continue reading Outside Reading — Finest Cuisine and Sultan Lounge edition
Angels in East Texas by Wes Ferguson Part reporting, part reminiscence and reflection, Wes Ferguson writes about the staging of Tony Kushner’s widely acknowledged masterpiece, Angels in America, at an East Texas college in the late nineteen-nineties. Validating a stereotype … Continue reading Outside Reading — Scene I: The End of October edition
The cleverness of stupidity by Tom Whyman Drawing a few sharp illustrative examples from classic literature (including a ruse that leads to escape from the military for Orr in Catch-22), Tom Whyman shows how defiant rejection of learning is a … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Orr Stratagem edition
Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction by Zadie Smith Zadie Smith’s consideration of the broad field of fiction storytelling, published recently in The New York Review of Books is dazzling, provocative, cerebral, emotional, and deep as the ocean. Smith … Continue reading Outside Reading — Profound-Other-Fascination edition
The “Cancel Culture” Con by Osita Nwanevu Prompted by Dave Chapelle’s wrong-headed defense of Michael Jackson in his new Netflix special and the immediate dismissal of a new Saturday Night Live cast member after the exposure of his blatant, repeated, … Continue reading Outside Reading — Using Words Wisely edition
They Are What You Eat by Caity Weaver Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the past couple weeks in a unique vocational space that I so enjoyed Caity Weaver’s tour through the offices of Focus Brands, the company that specializes in … Continue reading Outside Reading — Fudgie Ho! edition
Coffee for Two 