July/August 2026 Issue: America 250 + Art in Michigan (Print Edition)

Pre-Order the Summer Double Issue Here/Ships July 8

A Poet Grows in Skokie

Edward Hirsch talks about “My Childhood in Pieces”

"With ten published books of verse, several poetry anthologies, and numerous  scholarly and critical works to his name—including the much-praised “Gabriel, A Poem,” a book-length elegy for his son who died tragically at the age of twenty-two, and the bestselling “How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry” and “A Poet’s Glossary”—Edward Hirsch is a major force both as a maker and popularizer of poetry." (Hugh Iglarsh)

Booking at the Beach

Chicago authors explore the City’s formidable reading tastes

"Chicago beaches in the summer are full of readers. Their tastes are as unique as our neighborhoods, and far more complex than the ubiquitous descriptor “beach read” could possibly capture. Take a look at the book covers you pass the next time you’re walking your dog or dipping your toes in the surprisingly cold Lake Michigan surf. You’ll find philosophers and revolutionaries, fantasy tomes and essay collections, true crime and quirky little zines." (Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch)

America 250

Of the Audacity of Change: The Obama Presidential Center

"There will always be this fight inside of Black America—inside of ourselves—that is both our existential threat to one another and our existential symbolism to the world. That’s just our history. Our existential primogeniture." (Scoop Jackson)

Time Alone with Abe and Mary: The Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library

"What happens when you go to a museum by yourself? You become more open to the experience, because you’re not worrying about someone else’s reaction. You feel free to weep a little over the death of young Willie, or feel stirrings of patriotism as you read the Gettysburg Address. You’re also lonesome, so you talk to strangers and learn why they’re there." (Mary Wisniewski)

At Home with the Harrisons in Indianapolis: The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site

"Elected in 1888, Harrison was a Union Army veteran who endorsed a law to enforce Black suffrage, though it didn’t pass. He was an early environmentalist, authorizing twenty-two million acres of forest preservation, backed a law to provide pensions to disabled veterans, reformed the civil service and signed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which was the first federal act to outlaw monopolistic business practices."  (Mary Wisniewski)

Out in an Iowa Cornfield: The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

"Over the years I rolled by West Branch, Iowa (pop. 2,500) dozens of times on trips on I-80 between Chicago and Iowa City. West Branch is a little more than a three-hour drive from Chicago. The Hoover library and museum is part of the 187-acre Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service. The grounds include Hoover’s birthplace cottage and eighty-one acres of restored grass prairie." (Dave Hoekstra)

An Ordinary Man in Extraordinary Times: The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

"The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum opened in 1981 on the gentle banks of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ronald Reagan and Henry Kissinger attended the launch, while comedian Bob Hope hosted the festivities. The museum presents a humble and balanced look at America’s only unelected president and vice president."  (Dave Hoekstra)

A Rough Rider Rides Again in the Badlands: The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library 

"Once the sickly son of a Manhattan businessman, Roosevelt lived happily as a cowboy and was photographed in a suit of fringed leather, a bandana around his neck and a rifle on his lap. Roosevelt later said that he would not have been president if not for his experience in North Dakota."  (Mary Wisniewski)

Where the Buck Stopped: The Harry S Truman Library & Museum

 Despite the fact that the Harry S Truman Library & Museum explains why Harry never added a period after the S in his name, that period appears on the museum website. But it’s still fun to learn why no period is needed: his parents couldn’t decide between using the name Solomon, his maternal grandfather, or Shipp, his paternal grandfather, so they just used S instead of a middle name. (Cynthia Clampitt)

Art in Michigan

A guide for collectors, curators and the curious

From Heidelberg to the Good Shepherd

Kalamazoo: Great Name, Terrific Art Scene

Collectors Not Consumers: How ArtClvb is Working to Replace Mass-Produced Decor with Real Art by Living Artists

Cranbrook For Life: How a Farm Outside Detroit Became an Art, Design and Education Mecca

Polka Dots, Windmills and African Beads: The Legacy of Detroit’s Art Environments

The Great Beauty: Why Michigan Attracts Chicago-Area Artists for Residencies

What Else Could a Museum Be? Mike Kelley’s “Mobile Homestead”

Outliers

Masterpieces for the Middle Class: History of Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Homes in Michigan

Complex Savior: How Anthony and JJ Curis are Remaking Detroit

The Art Geography of Michigan

Arts & Culture

Art:  Kenzi Shiokava Finally gets his due

+ A Retrospective in Rio of the photo prankster Vik Muniz

Dance: The long and lively life of Dance For Life

Design: Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford and the afterlives of objects

Dining + Drinking: A Tiki touchstone for the Midwest

Film: Surmising the sizzle in summer's box office

Lit: A renowned Indonesian novelist's work is breaking through 

Music:  Kahil El'Zabar revisits "America the Beautiful"

+. Klaus Mäkelä says farewell to Oslo and hello to Ravinia 

Stage: Gwydion reclaims theater's risk-taking heritage 

Reviews

Hot sun, hot shows

Poetry

Shipping within the United States is included in the price.