Our bodies and minds can be understood as containers, or vessels. They’re storing things, they’re storing memories, or they may be actively trying to forget certain things, withdraw certain items. So when we enter rooms, when we enter spaces, what are the things that we are carrying? What are the things we are always holding and bringing with us?

Osama Alomar settles into his home in Pittsburgh’s North Side and opens up Skype. In Quebec, Canada, more than 750 miles away, C.J. Collins sits at his desk, pulls a set of headphones over his ears, […]

  In Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt gives a philosophical account of the trial of a high-ranking Nazi official named Adolf Eichmann. The German bureacrat was famously captured in Argentina and tried in Jerusalem for his […]

In February, Ross Gay visited Alphabet City to launch his newest release, The Book of Delights, an essay collection in which he explores the ordinary and beautiful moments, things, and people he encounters in his day-to-day life. Prior to […]

  As I walked up to get my copy of his book signed, Amitava Kumar shifted in his chair, turned to face me and asked: “Have we met before?” We hadn’t, but this is Kumar’s charm […]