My Mother, the Stranger
After cutting off all contact with her mother, Caitlin McCormick tried to let go. Now she's trying to hold on.
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Writing
The Rise and Fall of a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan
In a new book, Timothy Egan traces the Klan’s expansion in the 1920s across American political and civic life. Then its leader, David C. Stephenson,...
Why Speechwriters Take Humor Seriously
In honor of silly season in Washington, our resident humorists Chandler Dean and Sarah Gruen unpack the strategy behind the hilarity — and share techniques that...
A Murder Mystery Is Revisited in the #MeToo Era
Janet Potter reviews Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You, a boarding school novel and a murder mystery, and the story of a woman reexamining...
The State of the Union Shouldn’t Be Self-care for Presidents
The State of the Union address is often described, charitably, as a tradition. What it has become, really, is a nostalgia act — an aging...
The Secret to Wealth Is Giving Up Pointless Expenses (and Other Lessons from My Twenty-Eight-Dollar Book)
More Americans than ever are struggling to make ends meet. Is this because wages have remained stagnant while expenses creep up? Could it be that...
Metropolitan Diary: Barney Greengrass
Sarah Gruen quiets down on her first pilgrimage to a New York institution.
Dear Diary:
One Saturday this past...
When Freedom Meant the Freedom to Oppress Others
Jefferson Cowie’s powerful and sobering new history, Freedom’s Dominion, traces the close association between the rhetoric of liberty in an Alabama county and the politics...
I’m the New York City Marathon, and We Need to Set Some Boundaries
We need to talk. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you, but I’m worried you’re looking for something a little more serious than what I...
If I Emailed My Parents Like Democrats Email Me
SUBJECT: I’m DESPERATE, Mom
Mom, did you see this?!?
FIRST: I got a $300 traffic ticket because I forgot about alternate...