Welcome to Esoterica


Esoterica is a magazine for those not well equipped to quiet their brain, who inhale thoughtful articles on topics that hover near the periphery of popular culture and the news agenda and ruminate on them for weeks, much to the chagrin of their lovers, partners, and co-workers.
As Leonard Cohen so poignantly wrote: “Somebody Said Lift That Veil.” Well, that someone is us. Welcome to Esoterica, the magazine that will bring your brain back to the post-pandemic world.
Leah Eichler
Big Ideas


What’s a Manuel Ferreira? Book Excerpt from The Prison Lady
Phyllis Taylor is the author of The Prison Lady, a memoir of her journey alongside prisoners. The following is an excerpt from her book.

I Wish my Doll had Been Made of Metal: The Heartbreak of the Lahaina Inferno (Essay)
By Bruce Farrell Rosen, One of my favorite places in all the world was Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. I first travelled there in the summer of

The Synagogue at the End of the World (Memoir)
(Note to reader: the following is taken from a work in progress, a blended memoir about contemporary Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust.

What’s a Manuel Ferreira? Book Excerpt from The Prison Lady
Phyllis Taylor is the author of The Prison Lady, a memoir of her journey alongside prisoners. The following is an excerpt from her book.

I Wish my Doll had Been Made of Metal: The Heartbreak of the Lahaina Inferno (Essay)
By Bruce Farrell Rosen, One of my favorite places in all the world was Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. I first travelled there in the summer of

The Synagogue at the End of the World (Memoir)
(Note to reader: the following is taken from a work in progress, a blended memoir about contemporary Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust.
Musings

Interviews


Episode 3: Still a Classic? Jane Eyre
In our third episode, Leah and Susan reread Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. We both read the book in college and both of us were

Episode 2: Still a Classic? The Remains of the Day
In episode two of Still a Classic, Leah and Susan talk about the 1989 novel The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, which follows

Episode 1: Still a Classic? The Lovely Bones
In the first episode of our new podcast series, Still a Classic? Leah Eichler and Susan Catto debate whether or not Alice Sebold’s The Lovely
Fiction

A little of this, a little of that. A collection of new fiction, articles and other published works that are currently touching my heart. Stories thread our lives together and unite us in the shared human experience.

Fredericksburg
By Andrew Clark The Hyatt Place hotel in Fredericksburg is a five-minute drive from the Virginia field where 12,500 Union soldiers were killed or wounded

Colossi
By Fred Johnson 1. What a day: went as usual to Mr Kebab Express. Ordered pizza—twelve-inch special, no olives, can of Irn Bru. Was waiting

Maybe It’s Not Too Late
By Luke Beling, We fell out of love in a hurry that night. Suzy flipped over my dirty ashtray and tossed my empty can at

Fredericksburg
By Andrew Clark The Hyatt Place hotel in Fredericksburg is a five-minute drive from the Virginia field where 12,500 Union soldiers were killed or wounded

Colossi
By Fred Johnson 1. What a day: went as usual to Mr Kebab Express. Ordered pizza—twelve-inch special, no olives, can of Irn Bru. Was waiting

Maybe It’s Not Too Late
By Luke Beling, We fell out of love in a hurry that night. Suzy flipped over my dirty ashtray and tossed my empty can at
The Interview

Episode 3: Still a Classic? Jane Eyre
In our third episode, Leah and Susan reread Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. We both read the book in college and both of us were

Episode 2: Still a Classic? The Remains of the Day
In episode two of Still a Classic, Leah and Susan talk about the 1989 novel The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, which follows

Episode 1: Still a Classic? The Lovely Bones
In the first episode of our new podcast series, Still a Classic? Leah Eichler and Susan Catto debate whether or not Alice Sebold’s The Lovely