Christine Smallwood

Back Talk: Frederick Wiseman

December 22, 2009

A conversation with the director of La Danse about the discipline of ballet--and documentary filmmaking.

Back Talk: Amy Bach

November 11, 2009

A conversation with the author of Ordinary Injustice about why the right to trial is no protection against a shoddy legal system.

Back Talk: E.L. Doctorow

September 23, 2009

A conversation with the author of Homer and Langley about opting out.

Back Talk: Jarvis Cocker

August 26, 2009

A conversation with the former frontman of Pulp about the sound of music in the digital era.

Back Talk: Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor

July 1, 2009

A conversation with the authors of On Kindness.

Back Talk: Graham Parker

June 3, 2009

A conversation with the author of Fair Use: Notes From Spam about spam, scambaiters and language games.

Back Talk: Philip Alcabes

May 20, 2009

Epidemiologist Philip Alcabes discusses the social fears surrounding epidemics and why risk can't be eliminated from life.

Back Talk: Peter Singer

April 22, 2009

A conversation with the author of The Life You Can Save about charitable giving and the utility monster argument.

Letters

April 15, 2009

Back Talk: Young Jean Lee

April 8, 2009

A conversation with the author of The Shipment about American theater, irony and Mariah Carey.

Back Talk: Michelle Goldberg

March 26, 2009

Journalist Michelle Goldberg discusses the past fifty years of global reproductive issues.

Back Talk: Elaine Showalter

March 11, 2009

A conversation with the author of A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx.

Back Talk: Alva Noë

February 25, 2009

Philosopher Alva Noë talks about the brain, consciousness and animal rights.

Back Talk: Adam Frank

February 11, 2009

A conversation with astrophysicist Adam Frank about science, religion and manifestations of the sacred in the physical world.

Back Talk: Nato Thompson

January 28, 2009

A conversation with Nato Thompson on experimental geography, Trevor Paglen and the outlook for the arts.

Back Talk: Jill Lepore and Jane Kamensky

January 15, 2009

Jill Lepore and Jane Kamensky talk about how they wrote the occasionally racy historical novel Blindspot.

Back Talk: Tim Reiterman

December 22, 2008

A newsman who witnessed the carnage at Jonestown talks about the People's Temple, the power of images and the state of news.

Back Talk: Thelma Golden

December 10, 2008

The director of the Studio Museum in Harlem talks about gentrification, MFA burnouts and how artworks speak to us.

Back Talk: Toni Morrison

November 19, 2008

The Nobel Prize-winning author talks about Barack Obama, the writer; language; and her new novel, A Mercy.

Stewartsville

November 19, 2008

What possessed the fierce individualist George R. Stewart to compile a history of place-naming in the United States?

Back Talk: Kelly Link

October 29, 2008

The novelist and publisher discusses zombies, teen romance and her reaction to being labeled a "New Weird" writer.

Back Talk: Paul Offit

October 16, 2008

A doctor defends scientific research against the potentially fatal misperceptions of the anti-vaccine movement.

Back Talk: Kenneth Miller

October 2, 2008

Cell biologist Kenneth Miller discusses the dangers of politicized science.

Back Talk: Chris Smith

September 17, 2008

The filmmaker discusses the American Dream, crummy jobs and his new work, The Pool.

Back Talk: Elizabeth Royte

September 4, 2008

Environmental writer Elizabeth Royte plumbs our obsession with bottled water.

Back Talk: Guy Maddin

August 13, 2008

The Canadian filmmaker discusses his new film, My Winnipeg, and the importance of cultivating a personal mythology.

Back Talk: Raj Patel

July 16, 2008

Writer and activist Raj Patel explains why shopping better won't solve the food crisis.

Back Talk: David Levine

June 26, 2008

The longtime New York Review of Books illustrator discusses the delicate art of political cartooning.

Back Talk: Honor Moore

June 11, 2008

Poet Honor Moore talks about her family's response to her memoir, The Bishop's Daughter.

Back Talk: Billy Bragg

May 29, 2008

British punk rocker and activist Billy Bragg talks about his new album and the politics and economics of free online music.

Back Talk: Tod Papageorge

May 15, 2008

Photographer Tod Papageorge reflects on the links between American sports and the Vietnam War.

Back Talk: John Turturro

May 1, 2008

Actor John Turturro discusses his latest project, a production of Beckett's Endgame at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Back Talk: Nicholson Baker

April 17, 2008

In the debut of a new biweekly series, the author of Human Smoke discusses pacifism and World War II.

The Cinema of Terror

October 19, 2007

Three new films--Rendition, The Kingdom and Redacted--take on the clash of civilizations. How does the "war on terror" look on the big screen?

My Bondage, My Freedom

August 23, 2007

Robert Walser's writing--opaque and ethereal, provoking and digressive--is finally being introduced to American readers.

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

November 22, 2006

Laura Kipnis's The Female Thing takes women to task for perpetuating the notion that they're vulnerable.

Short Takes

September 14, 2006

Reviews of Half of a Yellow Sun, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves and The City Is a Rising Tide.

Short Takes

July 13, 2006

Short Takes

June 14, 2006

Reviews of novels by Anne Tyler, Chris Abani, and Rodrigo Fresan.

The Book of Daniels

May 11, 2006

Michel Houellebecq's The Possibility of an Island has at last landed on American shores, along with Pierre Mérot's Mammals.

The Blank Verses

September 22, 2005

A Rick Moody novel is generally about one thing and that is Rick Moody's ability to write very long, occasionally graceful sentences.

Out of Touch on 'The OC'

September 14, 2005

What makes Fox's The OC so addictive is its California-kissed story lines and appealing characters. But what is it about women the show doesn't understand?