John Amen is the author of several collections of poetry, including Illusion of an Overwhelm, a finalist for the 2018 Brockman-Campbell Award. He founded and is managing editor of Pedestal Magazine. As a result of the COVID quarantine, he’s been wearing headphones so much that they are now part of his body.
With her second album, Try Harder, Brooklyn-based songwriter Aerial East embraces streamlined compositional and performative approaches, shifting away...