“Women and children in Western history could and did find in witchcraft relief from the violence they endured in their own families.”
Essays
“A New Life for Us”: Zelda and the Future of Stories
“As I continued to wander its world, I began to realize Tears of the Kingdom marks a new achievement in art itself.”
Groff and the Radical Act of Paying Attention
“I had read Groff all wrong, subjecting her to a sexist and dismissive logic.”
Speaking the Monster: Ecofeminism in “Alien” and “Aliens”
“The Alien movies model how patriarchal culture distracts people from capitalism’s parasitism by designating women as the real threat.”
Who’s Afraid of al-Andalus?
In Spain, the Catholic Church tries to erase the era of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula called al-Andalus. Two authors problematize the church's efforts.
On Not Asking “Should I Insert Myself in the Text?”
“We are obliged to acknowledge what we see and how we organize what we see.”
This Is Your Brain on Books
“Reading occupies a strange position in today’s world, being at once physiologically unnecessary and culturally central.”
Toward the Next Literary Mafia
Those excluded from the publishing industry can ultimately overwhelm its bigotry—if they all work together.
To Understand Aztecs, Listen to Them
Have we who study Indigenous languages only succeeded in making things worse? And if this has happened, is there any way out?
Crossings into Indigenous Palestine
“If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them,” wrote Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, “Their oil would become tears.”
Tracing Women: Haitian and Black Cuban Women Archivists
“On the roadside, in homes, or at the marketplaces, Haitian women studied women’s history, culture, and politics—all without formal education.”
South Africa: Living in a Future Way Ahead of Our Time
“The human capacity for oxymoronic optimism will literally take your breath away if you’re among the millions living downwind from the dumps.”
Genre Juggernaut: Measuring “Romance”
For its scale and internal complexity alone, the literary genre of “romance” warrants more study than it has received.
Twitter Ethics Swarm “Euphoria”
The most tweeted about show of the decade, “Euphoria” provoked viewers to gossip about its teenage characters. What did they say?
What’s on Top of TikTok?
The videos of TikToks can easily reach billions. But because the app won’t share what’s popular, we don’t know just what the world is watching.
We Want Our Catastrophe TV
“We can ask why Squid Game was so popular. But really we should be asking how any show becomes a global success at all.”
What 35 Years of Data Can Tell Us about Who Will Win the National Book Award
We may never know what goes on in the rooms where literary prizes are decided, but thanks to data, we know exactly who was there.
What Makes a Prison?
Recent calls to bring back asylums suggest that confinement can be benevolent, even rehabilitative—but, in reality, “a prison is a prison is a prison.”
Dead Links
Tech titans gained power and wealth from the accumulation of data, but that doesn’t mean they are equipped to be long-term stewards of personal and collective memories.
Our Siege Is Long
Throughout his life, poet Muin Bseiso narrated the history of Palestinian struggle and criticized Western portrayals of Gaza. Today, Bseiso’s son dodges Israeli bombs to preserve his archives.