Interiors: Den at “Slabsides,” John Burroughs’s rustic cabin, West Park, New York.
John Burroughs, naturalist and writer, built this house in 1895 from all local materials.
Sean Munger
The lost cataclysm: The Cascadia earthquake and tsunami of 1700.
An earthquake off the coast of Oregon rocked the land, caused tsunamis in Japan and then seemingly vanished from history.
Historic Painting: “Self-Portrait with Vanitas Symbols” by David Bailly, 1651.
This curious Dutch painting from the 17th century is intended to remind its viewers of the transience and delicacy of life.
Thin flat plastic slabs of my childhood: Remembering CED videodiscs.
Before there was VHS, BetaMax, LaserDiscs or DVDs, there were CEDs. Wait, what?
Fire off Long Island: The S.S. Lexington disaster.
In January 1840, one of the earliest mass transportation disasters of the industrial age claimed 139 lives. Why did it happen?
A bunny, boiled: “Fatal Attraction” and my strange history with it.
How this trashy thriller from the 1980s intersected with my own life in rather uncomfortable ways.
A timely warning: The prophetic words of Rutherford B. Hayes.
What we saw in the news this week ultimately stems from what Hayes warned us about.