The coronavirus pandemic is dramatically disrupting not only our daily lives but society itself. This show features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the deeper economic, political, and technological consequences of the pandemic. It’s our new daily podcast trying to make longterm sense out of the chaos of today’s global
Literature
The story of Icarus is one of the most famous tales from Greek myth. The tale is often interpreted as being fundamentally about the dangers of hubris, with Icarus’ flight a metaphor for man’s overreaching of his limits (and coming to a sticky end as a result). But does the story really mean that? In
John Rember, A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World (University of New Mexico Press) Jeremy Garber, Powell’s, Portland: John Rember’s A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World collects ten essays about civilization’s ongoing (and ever accelerating) anthropocentric woes: climate change, overpopulation, fossil fuel dependence, the Sixth Extinction, consumerism, capitalism,
Welcome to Lit Century: 100 Years, 100 Books. Combining literary analysis with an in-depth look at historical context, hosts Sandra Newman and Catherine Nichols choose one book for each year of the 20th century, and—along with special guests—will take a deep dive into a hundred years of literature. Isaac Butler joins hosts Sandra Newman and
Everyone else has published their year-end lists of The Best, Our Favorites, Top 10, and so forth (that includes me individually and Lit Hub editorially, too). Why shouldn’t we gather the Best from 2020’s Books You May Have Missed? Choosing from the fifty-odd titles means that these ten are really the cream of a much
Emergence Magazine is a quarterly online publication exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging stories. Each issue explores a theme through innovative digital media, as well as
‘When Shall We Three Meet Again’ is the opening line of William Shakespeare’s great tragedy, Macbeth. Spoken by the First Witch, the line immediately ushers us into a world of witches, prophecy, and black magic, elements which Shakespeare probably chose to include because the new King of England, James I, had written censoriously about witchcraft
Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, The Quarantine Tapes chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic. Guest host Eddie Glaude is joined by writer Kiese Laymon on Episode 146 of The Quarantine Tapes. They connect over their
Bookable features established authors and emerging talent in conversation with host and author Amanda Stern, perhaps best known for creating the Happy Ending Music & Reading Series at New York’s famous Joe’s Pub and Symphony Space. With an immersive sound experience designed around each episode, Bookable takes you on an audio exploration of a book—usually
December 26, 2020, 3:02pm Barry Lopez, whose writings offered a deep understanding and nuanced exploration of the natural world and human beings’ relationship to it, has died at the age of 75. Over the course of half a century, Lopez’s work transformed the field of environmental writing, opening new worlds of narrative possibility; his style,
TODAY: In 1894, poet and novelist Jean Toomer is born. 40 bookstores in 40 weeks: J. David Gonzalez on the habit-forming pastime of buying books. | Lit Hub Bookstores “What kind of jerk-off would want to go to a sentence festival, anyway?” Does Goodreads have a problem with books by women, about women? | Lit
Rose Macaulay was on the cusp of breaking through both as an author and as a witty participant in post-First World War London literary society when she wrote “Dedicatory” for her friend Naomi Royde-Smith. Placed prominently at the front of her book of poems Three Days (1919), “Dedicatory” evokes an exotic, mythically nurturing persona who
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the origins of a popular girls’ name with literary connections Did the girls’ name Wendy really originate with Peter Pan? The claim is often made. And the answer is both simple and not simple. There are a few given names whose origins can
Plague tore through Shakespeare’s London in what, until recently, felt like a bygone, pestilence-ridden era. That plague decimated the capital’s population with recurrent outbreaks and bringing with it the kinds of draconian measures with which we’ve become familiar in 2020, not least the closure of public venues. But while curtains remain down indefinitely in many
December 23, 2020, 2:40pm This holiday season is bittersweet for many: it’s been a year of grief, and many of us are forgoing holiday traditions and creating new ones in isolation. For those of us who can’t be with our families this season for COVID or other reasons, here are some books featuring memorable family
The following is from an introduction to American Geography, a selection of images from the permanent collection of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We’ve lived for generations in America with our promising tomorrows waiting for us just up ahead. Despite world wars and ceaseless warfare, despite backbreaking (for some) economic depressions
From essays to interviews, excerpts and reading lists, we publish around 300 features a month. And while we are proud of all the 3,000+ pieces we’ve shared in 2020, we do have our personal favorites. Below are some of the pieces we loved best on Lit Hub from this very long year. “On the Language
The story of Theseus and the Minotaur is one of the most famous and enduring myths of ancient Greece. Among other things, the tale helped to inspire the central premise of one of the most popular series of dystopian novels and films of the twenty-first century (of which more below). But as so often with