Society
The Book Club Industrial Complex
What began as a parlor ritual became a publishing supply chain, with celebrities, influencers, and bookstore chains each taking a cut of the discussion.
Society
Reporting on how Americans actually live alongside one another, from congregations and unions to block associations and school boards. The section documents which shared institutions are holding, which are emptying out, and what replaces them. For readers interested in social change described through people rather than statistics alone.
Society
Why Community Theaters Keep Closing
America has thousands of volunteer stages and loses a stubborn handful every year; the causes are older than the recession everyone blames.
Society
Who Actually Goes to Museums in America
The National Endowment for the Arts has been counting museum visitors for four decades, and the answer is more complicated, and more gray-haired, than the brochure suggests.