William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well emphasizes clarity and brevity. He urges writers to cut excess, avoid jargon, and express ideas simply. Don’t fret about style. Strip your sentences, and your ...

My grandfather traveled by boat from eastern Europe in 1909. He told me he was sick and couldn’t eat the greasy stew that was served twice a day. They stopped at multiple ports taking over 25 days to ...

Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind explores psychedelics’ potential to change our view of consciousness and mental health. Pollan mixes history, science, and personal experiences to show how LSD ...

The histories of tiramisu, chicken tikka masala, and General Tso’s chicken must go back a long way, right? Turns out no, they’re from the 1970s in the first two cases, 1955 in the third. Other famous ...

I discovered the writings of Charles Bukowski—who some call “The Poet of Skid Row”—in the 70s, when I was a young man. At the ...

“Winsome” is the kind of word no one ever says out loud; if you encounter it, it’s only in text. But “winsome” is exactly the right word to describe the Musnet series, which follows an impoverished ...