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!

This Republic of Suffering: Good deaths
June 10, 2013 · 5 Comments
<I>This Republic of Suffering</I>: Good deaths

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War is an overview of how Americans managed death, in response to a larger and more sustained barrage of it than anyone could have previously imagined.

The Vine: June 7, 2013
June 7, 2013 · 9 Comments
The Vine: June 7, 2013

My friend and I watched this movie a few years ago and I’ve been thinking about it for some reason and I can’t come up with the name and it’s driving me crazy.

The Vine LIVE CHAT: June 5, 2013
June 5, 2013 · 27 Comments
The Vine LIVE CHAT: June 5, 2013

We’ll talk books, boys, crappy guests, and whatever else is on your mind. Chat window below!

The Vine: May 31, 2013
May 31, 2013 · 5 Comments
The Vine: May 31, 2013

I’ve just remembered a book that I loved as a kid, and now I’m gripped by the urge to track it down — but I can’t remember what it was called.  

The Vine: May 29, 2013
May 29, 2013 · 7 Comments
The Vine: May 29, 2013

I own a charming cottage timeshare in Sedona, but I made a mistake choosing to buy it.

You Went All The Way
May 28, 2013 · 5 Comments
You Went All The Way

And you made it exciting! With just minutes to spare, you raised those last bucks to get to 50K. This is no surprise to me, mind you — but as usual, I’m very proud of …

Goin’ All The Way, Day 10: All The Way
May 24, 2013 · 10 Comments
Goin’ All The Way, Day 10: All The Way

When a blog and its readers really love each other…

Goin’ All The Way, Day 9: After-prom
May 23, 2013 · 10 Comments
Goin’ All The Way, Day 9: After-prom

Before we get to the cheating and the speed quarters and the sitting around in Umbro shorts psychoanalyzing the Romance-languages department: over thirty grand raised!

The Vine: May 22, 2013
May 22, 2013 · 19 Comments
The Vine: May 22, 2013

I started, but never finished, a friend’s YA novel during a “reading day” when I was in fifth or sixth grade (smack-dab in the middle of the ’90s, if that helps).

Goin’ All The Way, Day 8: Crown a king and queen
May 22, 2013 · 3 Comments
Goin’ All The Way, Day 8: Crown a king and queen

Talk about sparkly: as of this writing I’m seeing $27,504 donated, almost twenty-one thousand students reached, and 192 projects funded! Lissen lissen lissen: I LOVE YOU GUYS! Keep it going! More than halfway to that 50K …