Episode 141: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Zines
Zines are DiY publications that grew to prominence in the early twentieth century scifi fan community, then morphed into a punk subculture in the 70s and 80s ... and now…
These are the poets and writers who have been killed in Gaza.
Since October 7, Israel has killed at least thirteen Palestinian poets and writers in Gaza. If we think of ourselves as a global literary community, then these people were our…
Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy
When most people think of piracy, they think of Bittorrent and The Pirate Bay. These public manifestations of piracy, though, conceal an elite worldwide, underground, organized network of pirate groups…
Public Domain Day 2024
On January 1, 2024, thousands of copyrighted works from 1928 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1923. They will be free for all to copy,…
Empire of the Sum – 99% Invisible
Whether or not you’re a fan of math, we’ve always had a need to count things. Maybe it’s to figure out the maximum weight an airplane can safely hold, or…
Subtitle -A German-speaking outpost in the American Midwest
German used to be one of the most widely-spoken languages in the United States. A survey in 1900 listed 613 US-based German-language newspapers. Today, only a handful survive, and German…
The Voice Inside
Many of us talk to ourselves in our heads pretty much all day long. But it turns out that there are plenty of people who don’t. In fact, thinking comes…
The Six-Week Cure – 99% Invisible
In the mid-1900s, people flocked to Reno, Nevada — not for frontier gold or loose slots, but to get out of bad marriages. The city became known as the “Divorce…
Amy Winehouse with Eve Lindley
This week, celebrity correspondent Eve Lindley tells Sarah about why we should all be thankful for Amy Winehouse. Note: this episode depicts struggles with eating disorders, addiction and self harm.…
George Orwell’s forgotten wife
George Orwell – the author of classics like 1984 – is a household name. But have you heard of his first wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy, who convinced her husband to write…