Baseball

“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.

Culture and Criticism

From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.

Donors Choose and Contests

Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.

Stories, True and Otherwise

Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.

The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

The Vine: May 6, 2015
May 6, 2015 · 40 Comments
The Vine: May 6, 2015

Hello, Nation! It’s me, Sarah, with a garden question.

The Vine: April 29, 2015
April 29, 2015 · 10 Comments
The Vine: April 29, 2015

I have a brother problem. He started dating a bubbly, charismatic, manipulative woman toward the end of last year.

The Vine: April 22, 2015
April 22, 2015 · 17 Comments
The Vine: April 22, 2015

I have a good friend (former college roommate) who I have known for about 17 years or so. She lives about 20 minutes from me in the same city.

All This Mayhem: Skating by
April 20, 2015 · 4 Comments
<em>All This Mayhem</em>: Skating by

Eddie Martin’s portrait of Aussie skate champs Ben and Tas Pappas, All This Mayhem, is edited well enough that it takes a while to realize how little it’s telling you.

Living history: Mangione’s The Dream And The Deal
April 19, 2015 · No Comment
Living history: Mangione’s <em>The Dream And The Deal</em>

It’s hard to describe what I found so appealing about Jerre Mangione’s The Dream And The Deal.

The Vine: April 15, 2015
April 15, 2015 · 23 Comments
The Vine: April 15, 2015

My siblings and I are writing to ask you and the Nation for advice on fundraising for my parents.

The Last Stand: The unknowable
April 10, 2015 · 13 Comments
<em>The Last Stand</em>: The unknowable

I wondered, at a certain point in Nathaniel Philbrick’s detailed narrative of Custer’s Last Stand, why he was spending such a long time on other soldiers in another company, on another hill, trying to survive …

The Vine: March 25, 2015
March 25, 2015 · 10 Comments
The Vine: March 25, 2015

I was hoping some of your readers are crafty or sew-y. I have a laptop sleeve.

The Vine: March 18, 2015
March 18, 2015 · 11 Comments
The Vine: March 18, 2015

I’m looking for some book recs on a very specific topic, and hoping the readers can help.