My new book, Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me, examines the journey of antifascist playwright Ernst Toller’s death mask from the hands of its maker to the collection at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City. Along the way, a new window into the anti-comic book crusade of the
Neil Denny's Little Atoms podcast is one of the best places to check in on the latest intellectual currents in literature, science, art and politics. It is always terrific to see writers whom you know there: George Saunders discussing his new book, Vigil, or Laura Lippman talking about
This is the fourth and final essay in a series written to coincide with the publication of Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me (We Heard You Like Books). Order a copy now. One of the things I discovered quickly as I started to research the death mask of antifascist playwright and
This is the third in a series of essays written to coincide with the publication of Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me (We Heard You Like Books). Order a copy now. My new book, Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me, would not exist without Florence “Hesketh” Wertham. Hesketh – who preferred to be
This is the second in a series of essays written to coincide with the publication of Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me (We Heard You Like Books). Order a copy now. The mysteries surrounding Ernst Toller’s death and afterlife are numerous. Why did he commit suicide at Manhattan’s Hotel
This is the first in a series of essays written to coincide with the publication of Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me (We Heard You Like Books). Order a copy now. Antifascist playwright, poet and activist Ernst Toller is not a familiar name in 2026. Yet when he committed suicide in
We have put together an all-star cast for Congressman Davy- a musical journey that revisits the political career of Davy Crockett that I have written with Dean Schlabowske. Find out how you can help us tell Crockett's amazing but true tale later this spring! Everybody remembers the Alamo
We are bringing Congressman Davy – a new musical about Davy Crockett's political career – to a wider public for America's Semiquincentennial in 2026. Find out how you can help! The immense gap between the reality and legend of Davy Crockett first snapped into focus in 1835 – the
On this day, two centuries ago, there was a revolt in Saint Petersburg. (December 14th on the old Russian calendar.) Those who launched it were largely composed of a new generation of Russian men who had served in the military and imbibed the revolutionary zeal (and principles) of the American
It has been more than a year since Congressman Davy – the musical I have written with Dean Schlabowske – had a full staged reading at Washington DC's historic True Reformer building. We have been busy plotting the next steps. And now we can announce them: Congressman Davy is coming
I recently went through some old boxes in storage. I kept of a lot of my old writings from the alternative press. But I was surprised to find that I had saved a copy of the very first paid article I had published in a newspaper. It ran 40 years
An essay by Richard Byrne. I went to the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive of American Art on September 2, 2025. My friend and colleague Jarett Kobek asked me to do so in late August, when he saw an online auction listing. Jim Sanborn, the creator of the Kryptos statue on
We have been overwhelmed at Richard Byrne Inc. by the whirlwind of front page news surrounding the recovery of the plaintext of the K4 strand of the Kryptos statue in Langley, Virginia. One highlight was the Daily Express labeling Jarett Kobek and myself as "complete amateurs." (The best
In November, I will have been publishing in newspapers and on websites for 40 years. But rarely have I been the subject of news coverage. That changed last Thursday when the New York Times published a story about my small but essential role in the recovery of the "plaintext&
There is no other way to put it: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are under attack today. The dry run for the current assault on public health came back in 2020, during the first Trump Administration's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bleach. Ivermectin. Tent morgues. Great
Recent events have brought home how placing power in the wrong hands can wreak fundamental and comprehensive damage upon a culture, an economy, and a society. Yet this terrible power cannot work its ills upon us without a larger complicity in the project of destruction from a significant number of
Moving is a pain in the butt. No one wants to do it. I have had a free newsletter since 2020. I chose Substack way back then because it was intuitive. The posts looked great. The email function and statistics were amazing. And as a writer who was not seeking