Probiotics are the miracle cure of our age, if we take the advertising world at its word. And yet, the conclusive studies and research haven’t nearly caught up with the claims of the marketers. It’s still early, folks. But... Read More

As props go, a vase of flowers or bowl of fruit may qualify as the painter’s favorite subject—excepting, of course, a portrait of the person paying the artist’s fee in advance. But artists throughout history have also shown a... Read More

For all its authentic, artisanal, true-to-the-earth talk, today’s wine industry is high tech, and the science-driven approach to quality in the vineyards and wineries around the world has surely made these the glory days for wine... Read More

Angels, however crude, fear a few places, according to E. M. Foster, but the same cannot be said of poets. Boundlessly curious, no subject is off limits for bards like Suzanne Cleary to tread. New Yorker Cleary earned her Pushcart Prize... Read More

All anthologists should be so lucky: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to gather the best erotic work by top female poets.” Off Enid Shomer went, wherever the trail led—to poems by Denise Levertov, Sharon Olds,... Read More

Luisa Muradyan comes to America from Ukraine as a child. She grows up to study poetry at the doctorate level; meanwhile, her poems are published in Paris-American, Blackbird, Los Angeles Review, and Poetry International, among other... Read More

In the Iraq edition of wartime for American soldiers, fear of being blown to pieces by hidden explosives frequently loses out to the wiliest enemy of all—boredom. This is the wartime footing—six years in an M1A1 Abrams tank—that... Read More

With carefully planned havoc, Rae Armantrout takes a page from the jesters of old—mocking the universe’s solidity without fear of retribution. Her talent will protect her. Recently longlisted for the National Book Award, she is the... Read More