Saturday Links
23,000-year-old American footprints, a history of magic, initial caps in poetry, Arnold Schwarzenegger's self-help flop, and more.
Good morning! You likely already know this, but if not: Jon Fosse has won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Keep an eye out next week for a special post on the Nobel Prize from our fiction columnist, John Wilson.
Suzi Feay reviews a new history of magic: “Curses, conjurations, magic circles, incantations, abracadabra, gobbledygook… Why would any serious historian want to write a history of magic books? Owen Davies’s Art of the Grimoire issues a robust defense: magic is as old as human history, while a study of grimoires is a study of the book itself and its changing format over time. Through the lens of the grimoire (a book of magic spells and invocations), the parallel histories of religion and science are shown in an eerie new light.”
Maryann Corbett writes about initial caps in poetry: “Like all specialists, poets and critics can become greatly exercised over matters that look small to everyone else. Here is one such matter: whether a poet may observe the old rule of using a capital letter at the beginning of every line in a poem. I’ve been conversing with fellow poets online for almost two decades, asking about this every so often, and the answers always include a certain noisy angst. Among poets in the US (things in the UK seem less polarized) and especially among poets who work in form and meter, the warring camps cry aloud angrily: You mustn’t capitalize—it’s reactionary! You must capitalize—it declares your allegiance with the tradition! Don’t capitalize—it interrupts the flow of the meter! Capitalize—it asserts the integrity of the meter and the line!”
John McMillian takes stock of the podcast Vigilante: “Neyfakh, the co-creator of Slate’s Slow Burn series, is no stranger to navigating difficult issues. He narrated that show’s first two seasons, on Watergate and Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Later, he built Fiasco, a series of audio documentaries that likewise explore fault lines in recent American history. Vigilante marks the series’ sixth season. Neyfakh displays a knack for teasing meaning from aspects of these stories that have, in one way or another, been forgotten, overlooked, or underappreciated. He is also a friend of mine who is comfortable with intellectual disagreements. And that’s a good thing for our friendship because what follows is my assessment of Vigilante.”
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