Society & Culture

For many people being part of the vanishing middle class is more of a steep and violent descent rather than a gradual fall.

American slavery predates the founding of the United States. Wendy Warren, author of New England Bound, says the early colonists imported African slaves and enslaved and exported Native Americans.

Commentator Sarah Hepola explains how she came to realize that drinking and casual sex don't mix - at least for her.

Stephanie Danler drew on her own experiences to write her novel about a young woman working at an upscale restaurant in New York. "It's so physically punishing," she says of her work as a server.

In Susan Faludi's new memoir In The Darkroom she investigates the enigma that always has been her father, and considers the various strains of gender, ethnicity, religion and family that, perhaps, go into making someone who they are.

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Writer Claire Hoffman describes her childhood living in a community devoted to Transcendental Meditation. She was meditating at the age of 3.

TV critic David Bianculli reviews the remake of the 1977 mini series Roots. He says it deserves to be seen and talked about.

Susan Silverman, on her sister comic Sarah Silverman, growing up secular Jewish and becoming a rabbi, adopting two Ethiopian boys, and how she was affected by the death of a sibling when she was very young.

In Rebecca Miller's comedy, an affair leads to divorce and remarriage — until the new wife decides she wants out. Critic David Edelstein says that Maggie's Plan doesn't quite come together.

The creator of the ABC sitcom "black. . ish" draws on his own experience for his show about an affluent African-american family living in a wealthy white suburb. . . where their privileged children lose touch with black culture. "black. . . ish" will receive a coveted Peabody award this weekend.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the proper terminology for describing white-collar fraudster Bernie Madoff, from the Dickensian "scoundrel" to the plebeian "scumbag."

Graphic novelist Daniel Clowes, best known for his graphic novel Ghost World, has a new book, Patience, a love story that was five years in the making. In it, Clowes uses time travel to explore themes like tragedy and regret.

A 2015 report by the Vera Institute of Justice finds that local jails have become a warehouse for people too poor to pay even low bail and for the mentally ill, creating a downward spiral for those who are confined as well as for their families and communities. A talk with the co-author of the report Nancy Fishman.

In Jennifer Haigh's new novel Heat & Light she examines what happens when fracking comes to a small Pennsylvania town. Maureen Corrigan describes the book as Haigh's "most ambitious - and compelling - novel yet."

The Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Empire Falls says his characters are inspired by his parents' working-class World War II generation. Russo's new novel is set in a small town in upstate New York.

The pop star's latest release extols the potency of black womanhood in the roles of mother, wife, lover and artist. Rock critic Ken Tucker calls Lemonade a feat of "invention and imagination."

Growing up in the tribal region of Pakistan, Maria Toorpakai pretended she was a boy in order to compete as a weightlifter. Later she became an internationally known squash player.

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