The famous detective Sam Spade is now 60 and living as an expat in the south of France in 1963. Watch trailer
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15 Literary Podcasts to Make You Laugh, Learn and Join Conversations About Books
Literary podcasts offer comfort and convenience. Most are free. They’re available across multiple platforms. And while you could curl up in bed and simply listen (as I often do), they’re designed to be experienced while you’re doing something else – whether that’s enduring a long commute, sweating it out at the gym or tidying the house. Read more
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Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa
Historian Grafton offers a superb account of the astrologers, alchemists, and sorcerers who practiced “natural magic” in Europe from the Middle Ages through early modernity. Grafton demonstrates that, while magical practice was already ubiquitous, what was innovative about these self-styled Learned Magicians was their belief that sorcery worked because of, and not despite, the rational laws of nature. Subjects include the historical Doctor Faustus, a “necromancer” whose exploits would become fodder for Marlowe and Goethe; the Renaissance humanist and reviver of Neoplatonist philosophy Marsilio Ficino; and the occultist and soldier Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Read more
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What to Read If You Want to Reinvent Yourself
Changing oneself is harder than perky how-to guides and self-help books suggest. The genre is so popular because its titles briefly allow us to imagine that reinvention is a matter of performing specific actions, rather than an ongoing battle with our own recalcitrant nature. This is also precisely why their advice often doesn’t stick: The first step should be attempting to understand the self you’re trying to change. The books below, by contrast, are honest about the difficult emotional realities that accompany personal growth—discouragement, self-recrimination, fear of the unknown—and still offer hope. Read more
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A Hopeful Reminder: You’re Going to Die
Fifty years on, Ernest Becker’s “The Denial of Death” remains an essential, surprisingly upbeat guide to our final act on Earth. Read more
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Mickey Mouse, Long a Symbol in Copyright Wars, to Enter Public Domain
Mickey and Minnie will enter the public domain on Jan. 1. From then on, Disney will no longer enjoy an exclusive copyright over the earliest versions of the characters. Underground cartoonists, filmmakers, novelists, songwriters — whoever — will be free to do what they want with them. Read more
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How Christmas Murder Mysteries Became a UK Holiday Tradition
In these Christmas tales, Santa has a very low survival rate. Read more
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The Old Man at Christmas
The humorist Jean Shepherd—whose writings inspired A Christmas Story—left a surprisingly deep impression on American culture. Read more
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A Tuscan Retreat Where ‘Literature is the Primary Value’
From her idyllic estate, Beatrice Monti della Corte oversees a writer’s residency that has provided inspiration, camaraderie, and leisurely, wine-fueled meals to some of the foremost storytellers of our time. Read more
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Movie Adaptation of ‘Eileen’ is Getting Good Reviews
Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path. Watch trailer
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