Did you successfully make it through junior high? Then you've probably read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. A pinnacle of the Romantic period and a scathing indictment of the all-up-in-your-business mentality of the worst impulses in American law-making, it's an oft-referenced classic frequently adapted for stage and screen. A new adaptation of the play (by Naomi Iizuka) opened at Intiman Theatre in October. more ›

This American Life-r Sarah Vowell has written a new book, The Wordy Shipmates, which is the most readable history of New England Puritan thought you're likely to come across in your lifetime. It's a bit like reading the journal of a grad student who's doing their thesis on Puritan rhetoric--with all the marginal asides and musings left poignantly in. We emailed her a few questions, and she wrote back, double-spacing after periods, which extra space we edited out to save on pixels. If you have better questions, super-genius, she's in town on Monday, October 13, at Town Hall. Hie thee hence, why doncha. more ›