"In Scrabble, words are, in a literal sense, spells. They’re powerful, and for as cheap as they are in the Internet age, still quite precious."

Illustration by Jonathan Calugi / Piece by Sam Eifling

"Annotation is a form of literary lingering: It allows us to prolong our experience with a favorite book, to hang around the world of a beloved text a bit longer. But it can also serve as a gateway, for younger readers, to the pleasures of scholarship, by pointing to a larger universe of knowledge beyond."

Collages by Parker Hubbard / Piece by Evan Kindley

"While I’ve traveled a good bit of the world, and even lived in parts of it, I have never begun a significant piece of writing anywhere except in New York."

Illustration by by Jon Han / Piece by Vivian Gornick

"Maple is the most visible of a new model of online meal-delivery services ... It’s the logical next step in the evolution of online ordering."

Illustration by Matthew Houston / Piece by Corby Kummer

"That feeling when you hit a million followers, make more money than your mom, push a diet pill scheme, lose your blog, and turn 16." 

Art Direction for interactive web feature

Illustrations by QuickHoney / Piece by Elspeth Reeve

In a lab outside of Seattle, Nathan Myhrvold, chef and former Microsoft executive, is giving new life to centuries-old baking techniques.

Illustration by Art-Jan Venema / Piece by Adam Robb / Design Director: Pierre Tardif

The latest hands-on concept in beauty: products that can be whipped up on the spot, using potent ingredients with peak levels of nutrients.

Illustration by Whooli Chen / Design Director: Pierre Tardif

"If you’re a longtime DeLillo fan, you could call Zero K a grand summation of his career themes and prose stylings. You could also call it recycling."

Illustration by Agata Marszałek / Piece by Tony Tulathimutte

Should writing be an art or a career?

Illustrations by Aart-Jan Venema / Piece by Sam Sacks

AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION 35: Aart-Jan's illustration for The New Republic was chosen as a winner of American Illustration 35. It was his first win. 

"Whatever their motives, they felt a need to assert themselves over me. Some even denounced me, a South Korean woman, as someone who had merely returned 'home' to North Korea; to them, I hadn’t gone undercover at all. Which is another way of saying that what I had written was personal, and therefore by definition not authoritative."

Illustrations by Dadu Shin / Piece by Suki Kim