The Accidental Luminographer
“For the first time in my life, I suddenly found myself in a duet”: Videographer Mike Cooper shares the story behind the unexpected creation of his own artistic form.
Essay
The Cut Root
“Michelle Soto, who started Cutting Root Apothecary last year, had a bin of chaparral on the top shelf of her stock. She took it down so I could breathe it in deep.”
Just Passing Through: A Haphazard History of Pittsburgh Hotels
“Even the temp agent in her matching separates couldn’t believe we’d come ‘out of the blue’: ‘No one moves here, they just move back here.’ But there have always been people passing through.”
An Escape Room, the Mona Lisa, and Certain Existential Truths
Within this sanctioned circle of hyper-focused play in a North Hills escape room, we formed a new bond.
In the Heat of It
The garden is a giant surprise party—it’s the present I wanted and then got and then got again from three different people.
Pittsburghese Expertise: Vowel Town
What is it about our vowel sounds that sets Pittsburgh apart? Linguist Barbara Johnstone digs into monophthongization, the fronted /o/, and the low-back merger.
Contraband
“Junk food was a secret affair in my life, never spoken of but always loved deeply.”
There’s No Going Back: The Increasing Difficulty of Creating
Years of creative output can hone an artist’s skills—but that just further complicates matters. Four experienced Pittsburgh artists consider their ways forward.
Introducing H Day, a New Holiday for Pittsburgh
In 1891, “Pittsburgh” lost its final letter. On July 19, 1911, it was restored. Let’s celebrate H Day.
Pittsburghese Expertise: Dropping “To Be”
In the first of a new series examining the different facets of our local lingo, CMU linguist Barbara Johnstone provides a deeper insight into the Pittsburghese pattern of dropping “to be.”