News & Notes
Featured Selections
Sy Safransky on Writing and The Sun
In our December 2023 issue we included a letter from our founder, Sy Safransky, who is stepping down after fifty years at the helm of The Sun. Presenting readers with a representative collection from his long tenure at the magazine is impossible. Any attempt would inevitably obscure more about his body of work than it reveals. Instead we’ve chosen to share some of Sy’s pieces about writing—and about The Sun.
By Derek Askey, Associate Editor • December 28, 2023Listen to Poems about Departures
We asked the poets in this month’s special poetry section to read their poems about leaving and letting go.
By Michael Bazzett, Peter Markus & Terry Lucas • December 13, 2023The Ghostly and the Ghastly
In this month’s interview [“Local Haunts,” interview by David Mahaffey], historian Colin Dickey examines why certain locations become associated with the supernatural. We’ve highlighted archive selections that explore the ghostly — and the ghastly — through shades of a graveyard, the horrors of Jaws and embarrassing parents, and email spam from the other side.
October 31, 2023Exploring Awe
Mark Leviton’s September interview with Dacher Keltner explores awe, including its physical and psychological benefits. This month’s archive selections expound on the different ways we experience it — whether profound, unexpected, or painful.
September 28, 2023The Power of Silence and Sound
This month’s interview with Gordon Hempton, reprinted from 2010 as part of our ongoing celebration of The Sun’s fiftieth year of publication, is on the search for silence in a noisy world. The selections from the archives offer other ways to think about the power of silence — and of sound.
August 29, 2023More from the Streets of San Francisco
Joseph Johnston’s photo essay about unhoused people, “On the Streets of San Francisco” [February, 2023], struck a chord with readers. We heard from one man who lives in Joseph’s neighborhood and recognized people in the photos. . . . When we passed along all the letters we received, Joseph thanked us for lifting his spirits and sent us a new image from the series.
By Joseph Johnston • August 22, 2023Musical Notes
Just like a good mixtape, the selections we’re sharing this month blend genres as they explore a common theme. They all offer surprising answers to the questions raised in our July interview with Kelefa Sanneh on what popular music can teach us about each other.
July 20, 2023Kelefa Sanneh Interview Playlist
My conversation with Kelefa Sanneh covered so many artists and so many genres that we thought readers would enjoy a playlist. My hope is that something here gets stuck in your head long enough to prompt some investigating of your own.
By Finn Cohen, Associate Editor • July 20, 2023What’s Brewing at The Sun
If this month’s Readers Write is any indication, many of you love a strong cup of coffee as much as we do. We couldn’t resist sharing a few of our favorite mugs. Tag us on Instagram with your own!
July 11, 2023Understanding Our Place in the Ecosystem
Dash Lewis’s June interview with Rebecca Priestley on finding hope amid the climate crisis felt timely even before New York and the U.S. East Coast roiled in wildfire smoke from Canada. This month’s archive selections offer more perspectives on how people think of their place within Earth’s ecosystems. The vivid descriptions in Synne Borgen’s “Observations on Ice” this month led us to pieces about the Arctic landscape in particular.
June 14, 2023
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