Many anthropologists suggest that mourning is the closest thing we can find to a universal, that death rites, though their forms differ, are practised by all peoples.
In his 1994 book, published in English in 1997 as Literature or Life, Jorge Semprún recalls how, a few days after his liberation from Buchenwald concentration ... Read more
What do we say when a year knocks the air out of us? When we started to put this issue together, the world was a different place. (I’m sorry to everybody I told... Read more
Dr Jeffrey Rediger on spontaneous healing, our current crisis, and why forgiveness is good for the body
Why is it that we, as a society, don’t pay more attention to stories of recovery? Why do we ignore examples of healing that don’t fit our paradigm of one cause,... Read more
What happens if you’re mid-transition when a pandemic hits? By Lys Morton
Near the end of March, during an endless weekday evening, I pace in my basement suite. In the one-bedroom bachelor pad, it’s a simple line. From the main door t... Read more
This series celebrates indie booksellers across the UK. In the first instalment, we travel to Dulwich. Even if you’re not able to step into Village Books, there... Read more
My dad grew up playing sandlot baseball in Middletown, New York. (I don’t really know what a sandlot is but it occupies the same space in my imagination as a so... Read more
Julian Hoffman’s latest book, Irreplaceable: The Fight to Save Our Wild Places, is a cry to see, to examine what we still have, to appreciate what is quickly di... Read more
There is a rugby match today, All Blacks versus Lions. I will make cheese scones so I can eat them with a beer. It is a way of watching the rugby with both of m... Read more
'I’ve looked at criminal investigations through a detective’s eyes six times. But there are a lot of other people involved. There are witnesses, there are victims, there are suspects, there are perpetrators...'
The more I think about eggs and their textures, the more horrified I am by them. By Lara Williams
I used to work with a girl who told me there was a finite amount of time that could elapse between her starting to eat something and becoming attuned to the tex... Read more
