A Case of Boredom
by Ghita Schwarz
Boredom has become like fat: once thought of as a privilege of the rich, now a problem of the poor and a source of shame.
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Toastmaster
by Rachel Aviv
Uncovering the ultimate hypocrisy of public speaking.
Enter the Mongolian
by Jim Ruland
Inside the Las Vegas sumo machine with Mongolia’s Lance Armstrong.
Doctorow’s Brain
by Chris Bachelder
Is fiction a science, or an illusion?
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U and Me
by John Freeman
An appreciation for John Updike turns to mania.
David Byrne talks with Olivia Judson
Finding the sexier side of evolutionary biology, and the associative leaps of faith in faux-scientific diagrams.
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Richard Powers
interviewed by Alec Michod
“Only inhabiting another’s story can deliver us from certainty.”
Anthony Swofford
interviewed by Stephen Elliott
The author of the excellent Gulf War memoir
Jarhead explains the massive amounts of care, politics, and sex that went into his new novel.
Cheryl Hines
interviewed by Carrie Brownstein
“Cheryl” from
Curb Your Enthusiasm has invented an entire language from various grimaces, smiles, and only one word—Larry.
