Posts by Swedan Margen
Welcome to What We’re Reading
What was the last good thing you read? I get asked this a lot when people learn that I edit book reviews for a living. It can be surprisingly hard to answer, because what counts as good depends on the particular taste of the inquirer. There’s an element of mystery to the relationship between reader…
Read MoreThe Little Sister, Festival-Circuit Ninja | National Review
Auto-fiction meets social and spiritual realism. Source link
Read MoreThe Best Skincare Products of 2026
We never want shopping for skincare to feel complicated, so we’ve done months of testing and research so you don’t have to. For your best skin ever, our team has selected 27 standout formulas to complete any gap in your current routine. From basics like an invigorating (yet gentle) cleanser to luxurious add-on treatments like…
Read MoreSuperstitious Behaviors of Knicks Superfans
Try a few of these out at home. It can’t hurt, right? Source link
Read MoreKareem Rahma and the Tyranny of Web Video Shows
Everything on the internet now is a “show.” No longer can we consider selfies, pithy text posts, or even monologues on front-facing cameras as a universal medium of exchange. No: the successful new standard is the video series, a set of short-form clips, shot by multiple cameras, like a traditional television show. The shows tend…
Read MoreDid a Chatbot Write a Prize-Winning Story? Does It Matter?
In early May, the Commonwealth Foundation announced the five regional winners for its influential Short Story Prize, which recognizes unpublished short fiction. One of the awardees, a Trinidadian writer named Jamir Nazir, was accused of A.I.-assisted cheating by a broad array of social-media users who seized upon his story’s synthetic tics, glitchy metaphors, and general…
Read MoreWhat We’re Reading This Summer: Pocket Reads
Helen Rosner on “Great Granny Webster” “Great Granny Webster” presents itself, at first, as a comic novel: a madcap portrait gallery of absurd aristocrats trapped in the self-created, self-imposed miseries of their haughty stations. It is funny, genuinely, but the comedy gives over, page by page, to something like dread—the accumulating weight of family history,…
Read MoreThis ‘Tacky’ 2016 Trend Is Back For 2026, and Is Chicer Than Ever
When it comes to summer style, there’s something in the water. After years of a minimalist movement prevailing in style, a new sense of dress is taking shape. Blame it on the spring/summer 2026 ‘big reshuffle’ that we witnessed in September 2025 fashion month—where 16 new creative directors debuted their spring seasonal collections at major…
Read MoreLBDs Aren’t Out, But in 2026, This High-Value Dress Color Feels Far More In
One thing about me is that I’m a dress person. When I’m not wearing jeans, you can definitely find me in a one-and-done piece, especially a simple silhouette that fits close to the body and is easy to build any outfit around. Think of styles similar to Carrie Bradshaw‘s iconic gray minidress from Sex and…
Read MoreThe Tragedy Ireland Repressed | National Review
The greatest tragedy of Irish history is almost never addressed in the Irish arts. Two films from the past decade are an exception. Source link
Read MoreIn Her Memoir, Jill Biden Continues to Avoid Reality
The best rationale for First Lady memoirs is that the domestic details they offer can serve as a lever, lifting the reader from the mundane to reach some larger ideal that is, if not political, at least profound. Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” was, in many ways, a disquisition on how she went from disliking politics—“In my…
Read MoreChanel Names a New Director of Its Jewelry Creation Studio—Cue the Stunning Pieces
Chanel just appointed Marie-Laure Cérède as director of its jewelry creation studio. Of course, the legendary Matthieu Blazy is Chanel’s artistic director (Hopefully, you scored something from the latest Métiers d’Art collection.) “I am honoured and moved to join Chanel, a maison of singular cultural force and exceptional discipline that continues to question convention, redefine…
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