Stories of Slavery, From Those Who Survived It
The Federal Writers’ Project narratives provide an all-too-rare link to our past.
March 2021
In This Issue
Inheritance: Narratives of the enslaved, forgotten founder Prince Hall, the Voting Rights Act, and Anna Deavere Smith on forging Black identity. Plus Charles “Teenie” Harris, ultra-fast fashion, the Earth’s deep past, Caroline Shaw, hyperpop, nervous breakdowns, and more.
Cover Stories
A Forgotten Black Founding Father
Why I’ve made it my mission to teach others about Prince Hall
American Democracy Is Only 55 Years Old—And Hanging by a Thread
Black civil-rights activists—and especially Black women—delivered on the promise of the Founding. Their victories are in peril.
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Illuminating the Whole American Idea
Introducing “Inheritance”
Features
Brendan Pattengale The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record
Our climate models could be missing something big.
Illustration by Barbara Rego* Ultra-fast Fashion Is Eating the World
Even a pandemic can’t stop people from buying clothes they don’t need.
Photograph courtesy of Dean Gillispie / MoMA PS1 The Breathtaking Ingenuity of Incarcerated Artists
How tea bags, cigarette foil, bedsheets, and more can turn into a masterpiece
Dispatches
Katie Martin We Were the Last of the Nice Negro Girls
In 1968, history found us at a small women’s college, forging our Black identity and empowering our defiance.
Lauren Tamaki Can Classical Music Make a Comeback?
Caroline Shaw is often cited as proof that the genre has an exciting future.
Song Kang Bring Back the Nervous Breakdown
It used to be okay to admit that the world had simply become too much.
Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive / Carnegie Museum of Art Everybody Knew Teenie
Charles “Teenie” Harris captured at least 125,000 people during the 40 years he documented Black life for The Pittsburgh Courier.
Culture & Critics
Paul Spella Noisy, Ugly, and Addictive
Hyperpop could become the countercultural sound of the 2020s.
Illustration by Ryan Haskins; images from GraphicaArtis / Getty; Shutterstock Amazon Has Transformed the Geography of Wealth and Power
Understanding America in the giant company’s shadow
Scott Gelber Extremely Online and Wildly Out of Control
Patricia Lockwood’s debut novel explores the mind, and heart, of an internet-addled protagonist.
Ian Berry / Magnum Tom Stoppard’s Double Life
For Britain’s leading postwar playwright, virtuosity and uncertainty go hand in hand.
Departments
Katie Martin The Commons: The Last Children of Downs Syndrome
Readers respond to our December 2020 cover story and more.
Tim Lahan An Ode to Low Expectations
You’ll be happier if you grade reality on a curve.
Poetry
Paul Spella / The Atlantic
