The Unraveling

Despite being one of the younger countries on the globe, Pakistan has accumulated an astonishing amount of turbulent history in the last half century, whose Gordian Knot is cut brilliantly here by State Department veteran John R. Schmidt. Examining Pakistan's emergence as a regional hot spot , Schmidt shows us why this country remains so vital to international affairs.

May 18: Parade, the "first modern ballet," premiered in Paris on this day in 1917. The production was a collaboration of some of modernism's most famous -- music by Erik Satie, scenario by Jean Cocteau, costumes by Picasso,…

Ethan Rutherford and Matt Burgess (Dogfight: A Love Story) on the writing of Rutherford's surreal and fiercely funny story collection The Peripatetic Coffin

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