Lapham's Quarterly

Back by popular demand, it’s the Lapham’s Quarterly podcast! In the first episode, Lewis Lapham is in conversation with Nancy Isenberg, author of White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

"I knew she was oversize, but she now appeared a fair match for Falstaff. I knew she was called an “old maid,” and I felt no doubt of the truth of at least half of the appellation, but now, when I beheld her, I could not for my life avoid thinking of my mother; and this, not from withered features—for her skin was too full of fat to permit of its contracting into wrinkles—but from her want of teeth, weather-beaten appearance in general, and from a kind of notion that ran in my head that nothing could have commenced at the size of infancy and reached her present bulk in less than thirty five or forty years."

Are you afraid of clowns? We are.

Split Personalities, an essay by Andrew McConnell Stott from the new issue of Lapham's Quarterly, might make you feel better about them (we're more sympathetic but still a little suspicious)!

"A stock operator has to fight a lot expensive enemies within himself."

DEJA VU: Taking Office

2014: Let's make New York a shining city on a hill, says new mayor Bill de Blasio!

Dear Sir,

My husband is in the habit of buying a quart of whiskey every other day from a Chinese bootlegger named Chin Waugh living at 317 Sixteenth near Alder Street.

We need this money for household expenses. Will you please have his place raided? He keeps a supply planted in the garden and a smaller quantity under the back steps for quick delivery. If you make the raid at nine thirty any morning you will be sure to get the goods, and Chin also, as he leaves the house at ten o’clock and may clean up before he goes.

Thanking you in advance.

I remain Yours truly,

Mrs. Hillyer 

"In the editorial about President Abraham Lincoln’s speech delivered Nov. 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, the Patriot & Union failed to recognize its momentous importance, timeless eloquence, and lasting significance. The Patriot-News regrets the error."

The reviews for Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address weren't so hot. 150 years later, the Harrisburg Patriot & Union wants to set the record straight.

DEJA VU: Twerking It Out

2013:  The contract prohibits making out, skimpy dresses, and simulated sex. Annapolis Principal Susan Chittim says the need to clean up the dance floor came before Cyrus’ romp. “This, unfortunately, has become the norm. Some of this crazy dancing that makes others feel uncomfortable,” Chittim said. “Some kids feel left out because of the dancing that occurs.”

This is a good one--John Hodgman, everyone's favorite deranged millionaire, graced our podcast with his presence!

He's reading spooky stories and haunting tales from the Death issue--we promise the one about premature burial will chill your bones (in the best possible way).

ROUNDTABLE: A Death in Year Three

"As I looked around the room, it seemed obvious that death wasn’t about the dead. It was about the old man who by then had seen it all, and the parents whose lives would never be the same. It was about the little girl with the warm soda in her hand taking it all in, the scene and emotions already forming a memory that will be woven and unwoven for the rest of her life."