Free Bubble Wrap and
Other Joys of Urban Simplicity
By Rebecca Tirrell Talbot
Our cultural imagination has us thinking the country life is the good and simple life. But it’s hardly the only simple life. The city has vast potential to provide an uncomplicated way of life – much more potential than it gets credit for.

The Art of Being Nasty
By David Sessions
In Snark, David Denby sees a strain of nasty verbal abuse spreading through the national conversation.

JCVD: What Do Awkward
Letterman Interviews Really Mean?
By M. Leary
On JCVD and the nature of celebrity.

Brian Eno and Discreet Music
By Matt Beck
Brian Eno is enough of a modern music legend that it can be difficult to see around him. One can choose any number of his legacies to consider.