Andrew McMillen writes on palliative care as a critical service, and of the “power and the grace” required to care for those who are terminally ill and grant their dying wish: to die peacefully, at home.
Our Picks
‘The Great Shame of Our Profession’
When an adjunct literature instructor from Harvard won a prestigious literary criticism award, ho chose to deliver a scathing critique of his discipline as his acceptance speech.
Failure to Cooperate
The indignity and discomfort of being accused of theft: a short story about a long shift at the coffee shop everyone loves to hate.
House of Cards: The Politics of Calling Card Etiquette in Nineteenth-Century Washington
In the early republic, social media had its own crucial importance — although what the media employed was not the tweet, but little bits of pasteboard.
Driving America
“Liberated by technology and disillusioned of the road-trip myth, the latter-day road tripper must face directly the fact that traveling in itself is phenomenally boring.”
Drowning statistics are a deadly reminder of our complex relationship with water
Fenella Souter reports in detail on what it’s like to drown, through the harrowing personal experience of a woman named Merav, who in a bid to show off to her boyfriend 40 years ago, jumped into the surf at Gunnamatta Beach in Victoria, Australia, and lived to regret it.
Phones are now indispensable for refugees
The Economist reports on how refugees prize mobile phone connection — even over food. Phones are their primary way to stay connected with family at home as they enter “informational no-man’s land,” not knowing who to trust, and where to go. Phones help them stay motivated with photos of family and successful migrants, and offer a means to contact smugglers to help them with their journey.
Spending Your Entire Life Wanting to Die
A profile of author Daphne Merkin, whose new memoir, This Close to Happy: A Reckoning With Depression, chronicles her six decades living with deep depression and suicidal thoughts.
What It Was Like To Love Oliver Sacks
A moving excerpt of Insomniac City: New York, Oliver and Me, author Bill Hayes’s new memoir of his intimate relationship with late neuroscientist and author Oliver Sacks.
The Strange Case Of The Russian Diplomat Who Got His Head Smashed In On Election Day
Sergei Krivov fell from the roof of New York City’s Russian Consulate building and died on its floor, but the consulate said he had a heart attack. Although a Manhattan resident, his name appears in no public records. His listed home address is an office building. The NYPD won’t release the incident report. So what really happened?
‘The Kids Think I’m a Shoe’
Stan Smith had a respectable, if not forgettable tennis career, but his sneakers have brought him much more success than he could have ever imagined.