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Author and Cultural Commentator

Virginia Postrel

2 articles 2010–2017

Virginia Postrel is an author, journalist, and cultural commentator known for her writing on economics, design, aesthetics, and innovation. She is the author of several influential books, including *The Substance of Style* and *The Power of Glamour*, and has been a columnist for Bloomberg View, the New York Times, and other major outlets. She contributed occasional pieces to The Weekly Standard exploring themes of persuasion, design, and culture.

Designs for Living

May 26, 2017 · book reviews, Magazine, Books and Arts

When we look back on the late-19th/early-20th century and think of the technological changes that made life “modern,” we usually imagine the conquests of distance: telegraphs and telephones, trains and steamships, automobiles and airplanes. We don’t think about canned goods, cigarettes, soda pop,…