My grandparents had a prehistoric coffee percolator for decades. The thing made legendary bad coffee. My grandfather worked a really early shift for much of his life. My grandmother would get up ...

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded ...

I discovered the writings of Charles Bukowski—who some call “The Poet of Skid Row”—in the 70s, when I was a young man. At the ...

Misha Lynn Moon (she/her) has been writing and publishing poetry for 35 years. She was the first public school teacher in Oregon to transition at mid career.

William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well emphasizes clarity and brevity. He urges writers to cut excess, avoid jargon, and express ideas simply. Don’t fret about style. Strip your sentences, and your ...

The histories of tiramisu, chicken tikka masala, and General Tso’s chicken must go back a long way, right? Turns out no, they’re from the 1970s in the first two cases, 1955 in the third. Other famous ...

Some of my most intense reading experiences have been listening to an audible book. When I was commuting to work, audible books transformed my commute from dread to anticipation. The best books would ...

I came to the Grateful Dead late by some standards, and left its orbit early by most. My first album was the band’s third, “Aoxomoxoa,” which I purchased shortly after its release in 1969, and I ...

My father never talked about his childhood or his father. He grew up during the depression and only said his dad was an alcoholic and would beat him and my grandmother. As a result he became very ...

“Winsome” is the kind of word no one ever says out loud; if you encounter it, it’s only in text. But “winsome” is exactly the right word to describe the Musnet series, which follows an impoverished ...