At Home and Away’s Best of 2021

Welcome. When my streaming music service of choice fed me its annual report of my most-listened-to songs from the past year, many were by the pianist Hania Rani. I was unfamiliar with Rani’s work until one of my colleagues, the art director Jaspal Riyait, included Rani’s “F Major” in her Best of 2020 picks. This…

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Lazy Lasagna

Hi, old friends! Margaux here, filling in for Em today. Once I file this newsletter, I’m taking off for an almost two-week break. (But with kids at home and 892 presents to wrap before tomorrow morning, I use the term “break” very loosely.) I’m not traveling, but my goal is to watch too many holiday…

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Why Marriage Requires Amnesia

Marriage is a solution to several problems that creates infinite additional problems. Marriage can cure your loneliness or exacerbate it. Marriage can make you feel a lot stronger than you really are and a lot weaker than you really are. Marriage can feel like a soothing meditation retreat or a dirty tryst or a very…

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‘The Nutcracker’ and the Sex Tape

I was working backstage at a production of “The Nutcracker” that was being performed at the Tacoma, Wash., school where my daughter attends kindergarten. Since the company was using the school’s theater, they extended an invitation to the kindergarten ballet class to play Mother Ginger’s children. What an opportunity; I was stoked. But now that…

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