Robert Crumb

He’s Lewd, Problematic, and Profoundly Influential

R. Crumb’s cartoons plumb the grotesque corners of the American unconscious.
Lou Reed in front of a photography setup.

The Canonization of Lou Reed

In a new biography, the Velvet Underground front man embodies a New York that exists only in memory.
Connie Converse playing a guitar

The Lost Music of Connie Converse

A writer of haunting, uncategorizable songs, she once seemed poised for runaway fame. But only decades after she disappeared has her music found an audience.
Man Ray looking through a frame.

Man Ray’s Slow Fade From the Limelight

Man Ray made art that looked like the future. How did he become a minor figure?
An elderly Walt Whitman with his nurse Warren Fritzinger.

Walt Whitman's Boys

To appreciate who Whitman was, we have to reinterpret the poet in ways that have made generations of critical gatekeepers uncomfortable.

The Encyclopedia of the Missing

For Meaghan Good, the disappeared are still out here, you just have to know where to look.