Once in grad school I read an essay by a distinguished political philosopher. She was arguing for the value of common politeness in capital-P Politics. I liked the idea, but this turned out to be one of those readings your professor assigns in order to trash it. The objections, as I recall, had to do…
Henry James numbers among the nineteenth-century’s leading dinner party guests and, not coincidentally, its worst playwrights. Had he been born in the late twentieth century, he would undoubtedly be the most popular recurring gay on The Barefoot Contessa’s cooking show, but instead he had the great misfortune to be born in the dark days of…
My mother gives me a headache. It would appear, also, that she gave me headaches. When I spoke with a neurologist last winter about the increasingly frequent migraines I was having, I told him about my mother’s medical history. He smiled sardonically, one adult survivor of Jewish parents to another, and said, “Well, the good…
Few pleasures are as intoxicating as arguing with the people you love. I’m not talking about fighting–not about conflict nor heartbreak nor even genuine friction. I’m talking about spirited disagreement. I’m talking about dropping something you adore at the feet of someone you also adore and then watching them kick it. Yet, miraculously, instead of…
21. Men Explain Pumpkin Spice to Me 20. Now That Pumpkin Spice Is Legal, What’s Next? 19. That Extra Half a Spice, by Victoria Beckham 18. Millennials, Millennials, Millennials, Pumpkin Spice, Millennials 17. If Pumpkin Spice Were Your Boyfriend 16. Will Pumpkin Spice Be a Moment or a Movement? 15. Why Young People Are Moving…
The new Thai restaurant, Pad Basil, is a great and searing contribution to the dining options on Tenth Avenue. It is a mind-altering account of the Thai food experience. Every conscientious American should eat there. There is a pervasive physicality to the menu—the elemental vulnerability of eating from a foreign cuisine in America. But the…
At thirteen I made my first pie crust. Channeled from the back matter of Martha Stewart’s Pies and Tarts, it was a basic pâte brisée: a half cup of cold butter cut into a heaping cup of flour until it resembles coarse meal, then bound into dough with as little ice water as possible. The…
Editor’s Note: this essay was scheduled prior to the announcement of the Ferguson Grand Jury’s decision. We have decided to publish it as scheduled, following the belief, expressed here, that love and pleasure are not the opposite of politics, rage, or grief, but rather are politically essential expressions of our humanness. This is a difficult…