B. Alexandra Szerlip, Contributor

Two-time National Endowment for the Arts fellow B. Alexandra Szerlip is the author of The Man Who Designed the Future: Norman Bel Geddes and the Invention of Twentieth Century America (Melville House, New York / London), voted “One of the Top Ten Arts Books of 2017” by the American Library Association. She’s also a painter and mixed-media sculptor.

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Sleeper Agents

Female spies from Asia are every bit as dangerous – and as seductive – as their Western counterparts.

Shunga: Beyond “Edo Porn”

Shunga were highly erotic Japanese paintings and woodblock prints characterized by meticulously detailed genitalia, astonishing physical contortions, and occasional witty dialogue or commentary.

The Cutthroat Truffle Industry

Theft, counterfeiting, kidnapping, poisoning – all manner of skullduggery is involved when it comes to one of the world’s most expensive foods.

The Mezcal Invasion

Once derided as rotgut, tequila’s smoky, artisanal cousin is coming to a trendy bar near you.

Melting Palaces

Beautiful, transient, and completely impractical, ice palaces are monuments to the human sense of novelty and wonder.