history | The Smart Set

Our Oscars, Ourselves

Alex Dabertin — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 12:30:00 +0000

In our second Oscars story republished from 2016, writer Alex Dabertin examines the red-carpet race for Best Actress. The cultural landscape was marked by a significant emphasis on issues of gender equality, diversity, and representation in Hollywood. 2015 brought the #MeToo movement and infused discussions surrounding the Oscars with a heightened sensitivity to issues of […]

The post Our Oscars, Ourselves first appeared on The Smart Set.

Mother’s Ruin

Tiffany Hawk — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:30:00 +0000

At the height of the 18th-century Gin Craze, London didn’t just have an alcohol problem. It had a woman problem. If you believe the reformers of the time, women were sloshed beyond reason, neglecting their husbands and children, keeping messy homes, pawning their household goods, even selling their bodies and spreading syphilis. No fewer than […]

The post Mother’s Ruin first appeared on The Smart Set.

Bursting a Bubble

Scott Hurd — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 12:45:54 +0000

Thanks to the Shah of Iran, I attended elementary school at a small Christian academy in west Tennessee. Four decades later, that experience adds perspective to what I see going on today. Not in Iran. But in the US.  Months after I completed sixth grade, Iranian revolutionaries took hostages at the US Embassy in Tehran, […]

The post Bursting a Bubble first appeared on The Smart Set.

Dress for Distress

Stan Tymorek — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 13:23:28 +0000

Fashion is ephemeral, but there is one item of clothing that has been worn since Biblical times — a distinction that’s even more impressive considering it was intended to be uncomfortable. It’s the hair shirt, aka a cilice or sackcloth, made out of scratchy animal hair or coarse fabric. Primitive man probably wore clothing made of […]

The post Dress for Distress first appeared on The Smart Set.

Beach Trip!

Edward Comstock — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 13:14:04 +0000

Storms beat on the rocky cliffs and were echoed By icy-feathered terns and the eagle’s screams; No kinsman could offer comfort there, To a soul left drowning in desolation. The Seafarer (Old English Poem) Well before the Bible told the story of Jesus calming the storm in the Sea of Galilee, and even before Odysseus’ […]

The post Beach Trip! first appeared on The Smart Set.

Why Mr. Darcy Has Always Been Black-ish

Liliana Hartfield — Thu, 18 May 2023 11:30:00 +0000

My sister’s summer assignment for high school honors English included reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and watching the BBC miniseries for extra credit. To my ears, this was extreme punishment inflicted by an instructor determined to deprive students of any rest. As a supportive baby sister, I decided to sit beside her and laugh as […]

The post Why Mr. Darcy Has Always Been Black-ish first appeared on The Smart Set.

The Allure of Medievalism

John Capista — Mon, 08 May 2023 11:30:00 +0000

On a recent three-week vacation to Italy where my wife Maria and I go each year to celebrate our Italian heritage, we spent our first week in Siena. Our only previous visit there had been three years earlier on a one-day tour to several Tuscan hill towns with a hired driver. The schedule called for […]

The post The Allure of Medievalism first appeared on The Smart Set.

Belonging

Usha Raj — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 11:30:00 +0000

One evening when I was seven, my mother showed me and my brothers a large neon sign on the side of a high-rise in the heart of the bustling city of Calcutta. Against the dark outline of the building, a huge ceiling fan whirred, its blades outlined in neon. As I watched, the projection faded, replaced by the outline of a table-top sewing machine with the wheel on one end turning around as […]

The post Belonging first appeared on The Smart Set.

Morbid Adoration

Sadie Agg — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 12:13:00 +0000

I have always been enticed by graves. Or more specifically, graves or tombs of well-known figures. I suppose I’ve forever been entranced by the untouchability of the rich and famous, therefore one must wait until their decease to be within reach of their supposed greatness. There’s also something magical about being in the presence of […]

The post Morbid Adoration first appeared on The Smart Set.

Baby Bathwater

Wm. Anthony Connolly — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 14:22:15 +0000

I am typing this manuscript on a 1941 Royal Quiet De Luxe manual typewriter, which was manufactured during the early days of World War II. It’s one of 30 manual typewriters I own because, well, because why only have one when you can have 30? Up until just a few days ago, I had 35 […]

The post Baby Bathwater first appeared on The Smart Set.