Books

“Ulitsa Sezam” sought to teach young viewers the skills they would need to thrive in a nascent market economy, with Muppets serving as fluffy mascots of democratic values.

When the Muppets Moved to Moscow

A new book details the tangled tale of "Ulitsa Sezam," a "Sesame Street" spinoff that aired until visions of Russia's democratic future faltered

Brigitte Lacombe’s 1996 photo of Joan Didion, who is now is the subject of a new exhibition at the Hammer Museum

Joan Didion's Legacy Lives on in Los Angeles

The writer, who died last winter, is the subject of a new exhibition at the Hammer Museum

French writer Annie Ernaux

Annie Ernaux Wins Nobel Prize in Literature for Her Unabashed Autobiographical Writing

The French author is the 17th woman to win the prize

At the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Vivekananda presented a paternal, all-inclusive vision of India that made America seem young and provincial.

The Indian Guru Who Brought Eastern Spirituality to the West

A new biography explores the life of Vivekananda, a Hindu ascetic who promoted a more inclusive vision of religion

Artist's rendering of John Canoe (Jan Kwaw), the Ahanta king who likely inspired the Bahamas' Junkanoo festival

The Gold Coast King Who Fought the Might of Europe's Slave Traders

New research reveals links between the 18th-century Ahanta leader John Canoe and the Caribbean festival Junkanoo

Forest Lawn Memorial-Park doubled as a spectacle of art, Christianity, architecture and patriotism.

Inside the Disneyland of Graveyards

How Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, a star-studded cemetery in Los Angeles, corporatized mourning in America

Ernest Hemingway and his middle son, Patrick, pose with a record 119.5-pound Atlantic sailfish caught off Key West, Florida, in May 1934.

Archive of Ernest Hemingway Writings, Photos Opens to the Public for the First Time

Privately owned for decades, the materials include a short story featuring F. Scott Fitzgerald, personal effects and rough drafts

Advocacy groups played a major role in the bans that took place during the 2021-22 school year, according to PEN America.

Over 1,600 Books Were Banned During the Past School Year

A new PEN America report finds that targeted campaigns by advocacy groups are behind the increasing bans

ONEPIECE by Ilan Manouach

At 21,450 Pages, the Longest Book in the World Is Impossible to Read

Ilan Manouach’s conceptual art project weighs 37.5 pounds and measures 31.5 inches long

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The Noble Fury of Samuel Adams

How America’s “first politician” galvanized a colony—and helped set a revolution in motion

Bakhtiari nomads in the Zagros Mountains of Iran in June 2017

How Nomads Shaped Centuries of Civilization

A new book celebrates the achievements of wanderers, whose stories have long been overlooked

Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in the BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie’s A Caribbean Mystery in 1989

Twelve Writers Bring Back Agatha Christie's Miss Marple

In a new collection of short stories, contemporary authors take on the much-loved detective

The Radcliffe Camera, part of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Tolkien once had a vision of this structure as a temple to Morgoth, the villain of Middle-earth.

How J.R.R. Tolkien Came to Write the Stories of 'The Rings of Power'

Haunted by the approach of another world war, the beloved fantasy author created a new story of Middle-earth that few people even knew about—until now

Catherine de' Medici was the mother of three kings.

The Many Myths of Catherine de' Medici

A new Starz series, "The Serpent Queen," dramatizes the life of the much-maligned 16th-century ruler

Against all the odds—of her sex, ethnicity and time—Seacole would launch herself into the heart of the war effort, and with it earn herself a unique place in the British public’s consciousness.

A Historian's Quest to Unravel the Secrets of Mary Seacole, an Innovative, Long-Overlooked Black Nurse

During the Crimean War, the Jamaican businesswoman operated a storehouse and restaurant that offered food, supplies and medicine to British soldiers

English writer Charles Dickens, circa 1860

Charles Dickens Was a Busy Man and a 'Mild Diva'

Eleven never-before-seen letters go on display at the Charles Dickens Museum

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A Deadly World War II Explosion Sparked Black Soldiers to Fight for Equal Treatment

After the deadliest home-front disaster of the war, African Americans throughout the military took action to transform the nation's armed forces

On August 19, crowds gathered at the New York Public Library in solidarity with Salman Rushdie.

As Salman Rushdie Recovers, Renowned Writers Read Aloud From His Work

Paul Auster, Jeffrey Eugenides and others championed free speech at the New York Public Library

Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick

The True Story of Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol

Alice Sedgwick Wohl's new memoir pulls back the curtain on her celebrity sister's story

The so-called frogmen swam into enemy beaches unarmed, wearing only swim trunks, dive masks and fins.

The Stealth Swimmers Whose WWII Scouting Laid the Groundwork for the Navy SEALs

The Underwater Demolition Teams cleared coastal defenses and surveyed enemy beaches ahead of Allied landings

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