From the 500 least popular lectures out of the more than 1,600 available on the website of TED, a nonprofit organization that aims to “bring together the world’s most fascinating…

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By Nadezhda Teffi (1872–1952), an author of short stories, poems, one-act plays, a novel, and a volume of memoirs. This story was first published in book form, in 1912. Translated…

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From a November 25, 1848, article published in the Norfolk News, Eastern Counties Journal and Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn Commercial Gazette and included in Purring: Sport of the People, an…

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By Gary Indiana, from A Significant Loss of Human Life, one of twenty-two pamphlets published by Semiotext(e) for this year’s Whitney Biennial, which is currently on view at the Whitney…

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By Nikil Saval, from Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace, out this month from Doubleday. Saval is an editor of n+1.

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By William T. Vollmann, from Last Stories and Other Stories, to be published by Viking in July. Vollmann’s last article for Harper’s Magazine, “Life as a Terrorist,” appeared in the…

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John Florio — lexicographer, raconteur, and supposed model for Shakespeare’s schoolmaster Holofernes, in Love’s Labour’s Lost — was born in London in 1553 to an unidentified Englishwoman and an Italian Protestant who’d…

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The fickle career of Carl Van Vechten

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Discussed in this essay: The Kennan Diaries, by George F. Kennan, edited by Frank Costigliola. W. W. Norton. 688 pages. $39.95. Pity the man’s poor wife. To peruse this generous selection from…

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Correction to this month’s puzzle: In 15D, the right-hand letter count was reversed; it should have read “(3,4).” We regret the error.

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Last week I received, via Priority Mail, a card inviting me to a wedding that I’d very much like to attend. After eighteen years of partnership, the card said, Ms.…

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Predicting murder on Chicago’s South Side

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By Barbara Ehrenreich, from Living with a Wild God, out next month from Twelve. Ehrenreich, a longtime contributor to Harper’s Magazine, is the author of many books, including, most recently,…

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The long, slow surrender of American liberals

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In defense of the canon

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Ever since the last draft was ended, in 1973, a small but devoted chorus of pundits, legislators, and retired military men have been stumping for its return. These are not…

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A compromised refrigerator was sending out spam, and electronic tongues tasted the grapes of Valencia, where engineers created yogurt from the milk of nuts. Cashew cheese from Sacramento was recalled…

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Estimated value of goods and services distributed for free on the Internet in 2011 : $376,000,000,000 Portion of the content streamed on Pornhub, the world’s largest pornography website, that is viewed on…

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A journey through a Russian client state on the Black Sea

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Former militants take on the post-apartheid struggle

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Serve and Volley John P. Davidson did indeed train to be a household manager at Starkey International for his article on private service [“You Rang?,” Folio, January], but what he…

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From an application submitted by Lucien Greaves, the pseudonymous spokesperson of the Satanic Temple, a group based in New York City, to the Oklahoma State Capitol Preservation Commission for approval…

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From remarks by Joseph Esposito, a retired New York City police officer, during a wiretapped phone conversation with another former city employee. Esposito was accused in January of helping some…

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