- Almanac: James M. Barrie on death
“To die will be an awfully big adventure.” James M. Barrie, Peter Pan Continue reading Almanac: James M. Barrie on death at About Last Night.... Read more
Listen to 6 American regional accents as they were spoken in 1958
Reliving History: The man behind one of Australia's most iconic photos
In this episode, we meet the boy from outback NSW who went on to capture key moments in Australian history as one of the nation's most prolific photographers.
COVERING THE IMPORTANT STORIES: Songs That Changed Music: 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love.”
THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE: People are oddly disinterested in downloading an app that could allow the government to track their every move.
8 Reasons Straight Men Don’t Want to Get Married
Diane Keaton: Watching Recut Godfather: Part III Was ‘One of the Best Moments of My Life.’
There’s a new enormous mural of Antonio Gramsci in Florence by street artist Jorit — and it is causing some controversy
COVERING THE IMPORTANT STORIES: Songs that Changed Music: The Smiths’ ‘How Soon Is Now?’
250 Days of Daily Pandemic Drawings
Author and illustrator Edward Carey has been making a drawing a day since the beginning of the pandemic. He recently completed his 250th drawing, with “no end in sight, alas”. He’s posting each day’s drawing to Instagram; here are a few of my recent favorites
Articles of Note
William S. Burroughs didn't care much for music. Yet for a generation of musicians, he was a singular influence
New Books
The Ferrante Letters, a supposedly experimental critical project, ventures little beyond textual analysis. Quelle horreur! new books
Essays & Opinions
America is a government of words, our language shaping our politics. Which is why we need critics like David Bromwich America
Down with occurrences! Our politics, wars, triumphs, and failures are mere “surface disturbances” and “crests of foam” on the great Sea of history
Genius is, among other things, a personality-laundering scheme. Boorish behavior is reclassified as charming idiosyncrasy. Agnes Callard explains ... Idiosyncrasy
THOMAS SOWELL: Walter E. Williams 1936-2020.
Walter Williams loved teaching. Unlike too many other teachers today, he made it a point never to impose his opinions on his students. Those who read his syndicated newspaper columns know that he expressed his opinions boldly and unequivocally there. But not in the classroom.
Walter once said he hoped that, on the day he died, he would have taught a class that day. And that is just the way it was, when he died on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
He was my best friend for half a century. There was no one I trusted more or whose integrity I respected more. Since he was younger than me, I chose him to be my literary executor, to take control of my books after I was gone.
But his death is a reminder that no one really has anything to say about such things.