An epitaph written by a man named Charles Sedgwick in 1829 for a family friend reads: “She neither wasted time, nor property. She never violated a trust, nor failed to perform a duty. In every situation of domestic trial, she was the most efficient helper, and the […]
A week on, the vacuum still picks up the occasional wiry hair. It would seem that the dining room rug has been crisscrossed 20 times, and yet the mementos of our nighttime guest persist. But, in fairness, back to the beginning.
For those of us who have chosen to […]
Academia, stuffy lectures, silos of thought, ivory towers – these visions of scholarly pursuits are not the pillars of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College. In contrast, the Center dedicates itself to open, bold and diverse thinking, active questioning, and deepening an understanding […]
Food is easy – right? Its sustenance is directly related to our survival as a species and yet, the ways in which we choose to procure that nourishment and our philosophies on cooking remain as varied as society itself. In fact, the term “nourishment” has often found itself […]
Deep in Mount Washington State Forest is a waist-high piece of granite. Intrepid hikers with a few hours to burn can reach it without too much trouble for the experience of standing on three states at once. Position yourself on one side of it, you’re in New York. […]
It was as if, one morning, without any warning, we arose to find the world a different place.
Because, it was.
Almost overnight, we acquired a new lexicon of terms and a distant geographic awareness that crash landed at home. Wuhan. Bergamo. Social distancing. Shelter in place. Virtual … everything.
It […]
Growing up in Crosby, TX, a small town near Houston, interior designer Joshua Smith knew he wasn’t like the other boys and it caused him much pain and grief. He recalls his “pink sock” moment as an example.
“I had these new socks,” Smith explains. “They were actually a […]
In May of last year, I wrote a story on the forgotten treasure that is the American drive-in movie experience. How this bit of the country’s flawed but authentic mid-twentieth century culture had been quietly capitulated by the easily accessible digital grab-bag of the modern moviegoing experience. Still, […]
What does an animal make of a pandemic? On various early morning bike rides this spring, I’ve startled foxes and bears as they saunter along our unusually quiet country roads, no doubt pleased that our iron horses have yielded such amiable byways to them. My stealthy approach catches […]
Unlike any time in our recent memory, the crisis that has befallen populations around the world has forced large scale governmental institutions to lay bare the true value of public health and safety. Emergencies, natural disasters, and traumatic events throughout history have often brought out the best and […]