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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD57IkvzE50 When everybody had one or two vodkas and smoked a few joints, it was always the time for the blowgun. —John Giorno From 1974 to 1982, writer William S. Burroughs lived in a former locker room of a 19th-century former-YMCA on New York City’s Lower East Side. When he moved on, his stuff, including his worn out shoes, his […] A Look Inside William S. Burroughs’ Bunker is...

It’s not the ingredients that sell the product. It’s how Warhol makes you feel about the product.  —Young and Rubicam employee, circa early 1950s It did not take Andy Warhol long to find the status he sought as a young man. Shortly after moving to New York City in 1949, he established himself as one […] 300 Rarely-Seen, Risqué Drawings by Andy Warhol Published...

Who doesn’t treasure a handmade present? As the years go by, we may begin to offload the ill-fitting sweaters, the never lit sand cast candles, and the Styrofoam ball snowmen. But a present made of words takes up very little space, and it has the Ghost of Christmas Past’s power to instantly evoke the sender as they […] Langston Hughes’ Homemade Christmas Cards From 1950 is...

For every year this Christmas tree Brings to us such joy and glee O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree Such pleasure do you bring me… All over New York City, tree stands are springing up like mushrooms. Unlike the fanciful windows lining 5th avenue, the Union Square holiday market, or Rockefeller Center’s tree and skating rink, this seasonal […] Get Inside the Head of a New York...

Whatever your feelings about the sentimental, lighthearted 1960 Disney film Pollyanna, or the 1913 novel on which it’s based, it’s fair to say that history has pronounced its own judgment, turning the name Pollyanna into a slur against excessive optimism, an epithet reserved for adults who display the guileless, out-of-touch naïveté of children. Pitted against Pollyanna’s effervescence […] David Byrne Turns His Acclaimed Musical <i>American Utopia</i>...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idAUo_fyHW4 You need never endeavor to make any of the recipes world renowned chef Jacques Pépin produced on camera in his 2008 series More Fast Food My Way. The helpful hints he tosses off during each half hour episode more than justify a viewing. The menu for the episode titled “The Egg First!,” above, includes Red Pepper Dip, Asparagus Fans […] Watch 26 Free Episodes of Jacques Pépin’s TV...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lMxN4pIQS4 Filmmaker David Lynch answers a basic life question from Mary Anne Hobbs, BBC Radio 6 DJ, during a fan Q&A. The accompanying video apparently comes from The Art Life documentary trailer. The source of Lynch’s happiness? Most likely meditation. Find more on that below. Related Content: David Lynch Explains How Meditation Boosts Our Creativity […] Are You Happy, David Lynch? is a post...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htf0XR6W9WQ Surely you’ve learned, as I have, to filter out the constant threats of doom. It’s impossible to function on high alert all of the time. But one must stay at least minimally informed. To check the news even once a day is to encounter headline after headline announcing DOOM IS COMING! Say that we’re all desensitized, […] The Map of Doom: A Data-Driven Visualization of...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQmAHmLy5DA One of the most renowned of Chinese poets, Du Fu, survived the devastating An Lushan rebellion that nearly brought down the Tang Dynasty and resulted in an incredible loss of life around the country. His poems are full of grief, as translator David Hinton notes. The opening of “Spring Landscape” contains “possibly the most […] Marina Abramović’s Method for Overcoming Trauma: Go to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZgjNeXXTjU A house cat is not really a fur baby, but it is something rather more remarkable: a tiny conquistador with the whole planet at its feet —Abigail Tucker As part of its Annals of Obsession video series, The New Yorker invited science journalist Abigail Tucker, author of The Lion in the Living Room, to reflect on “how felines took over […] Why Humans Are Obsessed with Cats is a...

The global pandemic has revealed the depths of systematic cruelty in certain places in the world that have refused to commit resources to protecting people from the virus or refused to even acknowledge its existence. Other responses show a different way forward, one in which everyone contributes meaningfully through the principled actions of wearing masks […] Japanese Art Installation Lets People Play Erik Satie’s...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWr67v620kY Buckminster Fuller had a difficult time as an inventor in his early years. “Having been expelled from Harvard for irresponsible conduct,” notes The Guardian, “he struggled to find a job and provide a living for his young family in his early 30s.” Despite later successes, and a later reputation as legendary as Nikola Tesla’s, he […] The Eden Project Built a Rainforest Ecosystem Inside...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT40Rmjwd-Q I think, as social primates, we want to feel a strong sense of belonging either in a relationship or to a community—or both. But also intrinsic to our humanity is a feeling that we are truly alone. —Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman, 2010 When they first became friends, poet Tanya Davis and filmmaker Andrea Dorfman talked a lot about the pleasures […] Watch <i>How to Be at Home</i>, a Beautiful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyVPEDS2VGk At first glance, Madame Bovary and Blue Velvet would seem to have little in common, as would their creators. But the artistic life Gustave Flaubert led and the one David Lynch now leads share a basic precept: “Be regular and orderly in your life,” as the former once put it, “so that you may be […] David Lynch Explains How Simple Daily Habits Enhance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1n_SS8Fi0 The loneliness and isolation of quarantine is nothing to laugh about, though we might have heard grim jokes about solitary confinement in the last few months. We’ve also seen overwrought comparisons of social distancing to prison. These are, I think, release valves for real pain. One hopes the harrowing experience of the pandemic will […] What Happens When You Spend Weeks, Months, or...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hdT8PgT19w Who can resist miniatures? Wee food, painstakingly rendered in felted wool… Matchbook-sized books you can actually read… Classic record albums shrunk down for mice… The late Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962) definitely loved miniatures, and excelled at their creation, knitting socks on pins, hand rolling real tobacco into tiny cigarettes, and making sure the victims in her […] The Gruesome Dollhouse Death Scenes That Reinvented Murder...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H464u4q_JGk The state of our troubled planet dictates that disposables are out. Reusables are in. And anyone who’s taught themselves how to mend and maintain their stuff has earned the right to flaunt it! A quick scroll through Instagram reveals loads of visible mending projects that highlight rather than disguise the area of repair, drawing the eye […] The Japanese Traditions of Sashiko & Boro: The...

It’s nearly impossible to find an unblemished square of pavement in New York City. Unless the concrete was poured within the last day or two, count on each square to boast at least one dark polka dot, an echo of casually discarded gum. Confirm for yourself with a quick peek beneath the exuberant feet of […] The Dance Theatre of Harlem Dances Through the...