Ideology and Electricity: The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan Ideology and Electricity: The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan
Rodric Braithwaite, Jonathan Steele and Artemy Kalinovsky analyze the forgotten history of Afghan communism and the Soviet occupation.
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Christian Parenti
Pikuach Nefesh: On God and Gays Pikuach Nefesh: On God and Gays
Mark Jordan and Jay Michaelson seek hope for gay religious practice in heretical churches and the Hebrew Bible.
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Mark Oppenheimer
Puzzle No. 3236 Puzzle No. 3236
Don’t miss Kosman and Picciotto’s crossword blog, Word Salad.
Apr 17, 2012 / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
The Drought The Drought
Dip him in the river who loves water… said the cook on the cooking show… Take the hearts of thirty ducks… and here’s the trick… You must keep them wet… the way to go… the way to go is broth… Ok… Broth of hearts of duck… I went to go buy broth stuff… a bay leaf… Oh said the grocer… With duck heart what you want is spice… Curry the thirty hearts he said… Back home… Hurrying… Ok, curry… The mailman smelled the place… Oh Ho he said… I smell blood… he opened the pot… Why if it isn’t 30 duck hearts… Of course you’re going to skewer them…? Skewers… I had to… I had to go… I ran down to the hardware depot… Skewers…? Well it’s not BBQ season… I persisted… I explained the meal… the populace… Meanwhile… customers were coming… buying out all the salt and shovels… for the blizzard… buying out all the fireworks… for the Fourth… buying out all the hammers and nails… for Hurricane Ross… Remained: some rope… I’d hang them… if I had to… It’s not thirty duck hearts is it… asked the clerk… I didn’t dare talk… To skewer the hearts of thirty duckers… he said… you need the beaks of thirty ivory-billed woodpeckers… Are those… rare?… As rare as they come, he said… Better give me 31… Ran home… the kitchen was smelling… majestic… Ok…Ok… Almost ready… The places set… Candles lit… The downstairs neighbor tuning her pipe organ… 29 special guests filed in… Please sit… May I present… In the heart of each duck… there was a glint… majestic… They said, Is that…? Yes, I said… Yes… each one swimming in sauce and broth… Oh, they said… Oh no no no… Had I…? Were they…? No, no no no no … Dip him in the river who loves water… Yes that’s the recipe I followed… That’s not the way it goes… anymore… they said… They said… each heart should be served raw… and drowning… in a sacred diamond-flavored fountain… I was so… I didn’t usually believe in impressing… But these guests!… Honestly… They were just… They were as hungry as I was… One especially kind… one offered to… to pawn the woodpecker skewers… I lied… said they were worthless… said Oh they were free… Oh just papier-mâché… Oh found a ton of them lying around… down… where the river used to be…
Apr 17, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Darcie Dennigan
On Feminism and Sadomasochistic Sex On Feminism and Sadomasochistic Sex
Katie Roiphe's Newsweek cover story ignores the fact that in every century and decade, sadomasochistic erotica has broken into the mainstream.
Apr 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Dana Goldstein
Bruce Springsteen’s Political Voice Bruce Springsteen’s Political Voice
He began his career singing about cars and girls before moving on to empty factories and abandoned quarries—and now, with Wrecking Ball, the depredations of Wall Street.
Apr 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
Willy Loman’s Secret Willy Loman’s Secret
Death of a Salesman speaks to our time on the failure of competitive capitalism.
Apr 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Lee Siegel
The Republican National Committee Selects a Campaign Slogan The Republican National Committee Selects a Campaign Slogan
Our slogan’s been chosen. We think it’s a hit. We’ll shout from the rafters, “We settle for Mitt!”
Apr 11, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Among the Tufted Canes: Twentieth-Century Italian Poetry Among the Tufted Canes: Twentieth-Century Italian Poetry
Geoffrey Brock’s anthology of twentieth-century Italian poetry offers the risk of a counter-eloquence.
Apr 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / James Longenbach