The Best of the Literary Internet, Every Day

TODAY: In 1828, Leo Tolstoy is born.
- Who decides what makes a city valuable? 150 years ago, Friedrich Engels predicted how capitalism would result in modern gentrification. | Lit Hub Politics
- Rachel Kushner on “hourly employee, actress, muse” Kim Gordon and the tenth anniversary of Girl In a Band. | Lit Hub Music
- The 24 new books out today include titles by Elizabeth Gilbert, Sarah Moss, Alejandro Varela, and more! | Lit Hub Reading Lists
- Jeannie Vanasco reckons with family and resentment: “Hey Google. How does it feel to give someone the silent treatment?” | Lit Hub Memoir
- Lauren Morrow recommends eight books that celebrate Black performance by Percival Everett, Zadie Smith, Nicole Cuffy, and more. | Lit Hub Reading Lists
- “I’d wanted to dissect, intellectualize, and dramatize the pain of loss.” Alejandro Varela on writing a novel that questions everything about love and heartbreak. | Lit Hub Craft
- “When I was younger, I wanted to become a pathologist. I thought dead people would be easier to deal with.” Jade Chang, Adam Nicholson, E. Y. Zhao and more authors take the Lit Hub Questionnaire. | Lit Hub In Conversation
- “I took the train to Italy, of course.” Read from Sarah Moss’s new novel, Ripeness. | Lit Hub Fiction
- Anthony Lane explores the transgressive legacy of Christopher Marlowe. | The New Yorker
- Looking for cocktail party chitchat with a difference? Here’s some truly horrifying trivia, courtesy of Mary Roach. | The New York Times
- “It feels like part of this horrible new culture where you can have any truth you want—as if history began and ended yesterday.” John Nichols talks to Rebecca Solnit. | The Nation
- Elisa Gonzalez writes about being stoned at the MoMA. | The Paris Review
- “Indeed, in the years since the Watson games, hating on the computer—or at least hating on its nonsentient claims of victory—has become a favorite cause among Jeopardy! devotees.” On the time AI invaded Jeopardy!. | Slate
- Matthew Wills looks at some eighteenth century takes on universal basic income. | JSTOR Daily
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