"Poison Squad" Volunteers taking in a dinner with a side of Borax.

The Borax Dinner Party That Kickstarted The FDA

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Science writer Deborah Blum on the government scientists who made the case for food regulation by "eating dangerously."More

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The Internet Has Made Dying More Miserable

Art Official Age cover
Sonic Sidebar

Chuck Klosterman thinks the Internet has ruined a lot of things, including death.

George Saunders Recommends "I Will Bear Witness"

"I Will Bear Witness" by Victor Klemperer
Bookmarks

The author of "Lincoln in the Bardo" recommends Victor Klemperer's two-volume diary that reads as a slow-motion picture of what the Holocaust looked like before it was known Holocaust.

Women With A Toxic Glow

A glowing radium clock.
Articles

How painting radium on watches and instrument dials killed more than 50 young women working in Ottawa, Illinois.

Jacqueline Woodson Recommends "If Beale Street Could Talk"

"If Beale Street Could Talk" by James Baldwin
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The author of "Another Brooklyn" recommends a James Baldwin novel she says belongs on everyone's bookshelf.

From Child Pop Star to Jazz Singer: Nikka Costa Performs America’s Songbook

Nikka and Strings
Deep Tracks

When Nikka Costa was ten, she was a pop sensation in Europe. In her 20s, she was Britney Spear’s opening act. But she’s left pop music behind and now she’s performing songs by some of the musicians she’s known, including Prince and Frank Sinatra.

Length: 
13:12

Why Not Abolish Literary Genres?

Books on books on books
Dangerous Ideas

Why do we keep dividing the world of books into different genres — like romance novels, science fiction and literary fiction? Novelist Lauren Beukes says we should simply get rid of the whole idea of genre.

Length: 
1:46