The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads from 2020

Physicist Brian Greene on Mortality, Our Search for Meaning, and the Most Important Fact of the Universe
Physicist Brian Greene on Mortality, Our Search for Meaning, and the Most Important Fact of the Universe

“When you see all of those stories nested together in one narrative arc… it gives a deeper understanding of where we came from, and what’s happening at the moment, and ultimately where we’re going.”

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James Baldwin on How to Live Through Your Darkest Hour and Life as a Moral Obligation to the Universe
James Baldwin on How to Live Through Your Darkest Hour and Life as a Moral Obligation to the Universe

“I have always felt that a human being could only be saved by another human being. I am aware that we do not save each other very often. But I am also aware that we save each other some of the time.”

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Einstein’s Mother: A Poem by Tracy K. Smith
Einstein’s Mother: A Poem by Tracy K. Smith

“Was he mute a while, or all tears. Did he raise his hands to his ears so he could scream scream scream.”

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The Universe in Verse 2019: Full Show
The Universe in Verse 2019: Full Show

“Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.”

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The Value of Being Uncomfortable: Herman Melville on Privation as a Portal to Appreciation and Aliveness
The Value of Being Uncomfortable: Herman Melville on Privation as a Portal to Appreciation and Aliveness

“To enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself.”

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Singularity: Marie Howe’s Ode to Stephen Hawking, Our Cosmic Belonging, and the Meaning of Home, in a Stunning Animated Short Film
Singularity: Marie Howe’s Ode to Stephen Hawking, Our Cosmic Belonging, and the Meaning of Home, in a Stunning Animated Short Film

“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. Remember?”

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Brokenness as Belonging: “lake-loop” by Mojave American Poet Natalie Diaz, in a Stunning Animated Short Film by Artist Ohara Hale
Brokenness as Belonging: “lake-loop” by Mojave American Poet Natalie Diaz, in a Stunning Animated Short Film by Artist Ohara Hale

“Every story is a story of water.”

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Mary Shelley on the Surest Remedy for a Sunken Spirit and What Makes Life Worth Living
Mary Shelley on the Surest Remedy for a Sunken Spirit and What Makes Life Worth Living

“There is but one solution to the intricate riddle of life; to improve ourselves, and contribute to the happiness of others.”

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Philip, the Last Sweet Potato: A Non-Binary Quarantine Love Story from Beloved Children’s Book Author and Illustrator Sophie Blackall
Philip, the Last Sweet Potato: A Non-Binary Quarantine Love Story from Beloved Children’s Book Author and Illustrator Sophie Blackall

Odd and lovely consolation for despair and aloneness springing from that place of “defiance and melancholy and ecstasy.”

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Antidotes to Fear of Death: Astronomer and Poet Rebecca Elson’s Stunning Cosmic Salve for Our Creaturely Tremblings of Heart
Antidotes to Fear of Death: Astronomer and Poet Rebecca Elson’s Stunning Cosmic Salve for Our Creaturely Tremblings of Heart

“Sometimes as an antidote to fear of death, I eat the stars.”

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