Books & the Arts
Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom
A new career-spanning book offers a portrait of Painter’s career as a historian, essayist, and most recently visual artist.
Leslie Jamison and the Travails of Millennial Divorce Leslie Jamison and the Travails of Millennial Divorce
In her new book, the novelist and essayist examines life before and after marriage.
Gabriel García Márquez’s Last Lesson Gabriel García Márquez’s Last Lesson
His final novel, Until August, serves as not only a record of his last struggles with illness but also as a document of courage.
A Left Between Victory and Defeat A Left Between Victory and Defeat
How can the left escape burning out?
From the Magazine
Who Is In Charge in the Biden White House? Who Is In Charge in the Biden White House?
In The Last Politician, Franklin Foer offers a portrait of an administration at odds with itself.
The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance
A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the world-spanning art of the Harlem Renaissance.
The End of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Marks the End of an Era The End of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Marks the End of an Era
Larry David is the last of his kind—and in several ways.
Literary Criticism
Isabella Hammad’s Novel of Art and Exile in Palestine Isabella Hammad’s Novel of Art and Exile in Palestine
Enter the Ghost looks at a group of Palestinians who try to put on a production of Hamlet in the occupied West Bank.
The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud
His work, unlike that of Bellow or Roth, focused on the lives of often impoverished Jews in Brooklyn and the Bronx and bestowed on them a literary magic.
Lauren Oyler and the Critic in the Internet Age Lauren Oyler and the Critic in the Internet Age
In No Judgment, the novelist and critic explores the perilous activity of literary criticism in the era of social media.
History & Politics
What Happened to the Democratic Majority? What Happened to the Democratic Majority?
Today the march of class dealignment feels like an inexorable fact of American political life. But is it?
Sara Ahmed and the Joys of Killjoy Feminism Sara Ahmed and the Joys of Killjoy Feminism
To be a feminist killjoy means celebrating a different kind of joy, the joy that comes from doing critical damage to what damages so much of the world.
How Did Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Go So Off Course? How Did Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Go So Off Course?
The president set out to chart a more pacific and humane foreign policy after the Trump years but at some point he and his team of advisers lost the plot.
Art & Architecture
How Did Americans Come to Love “Mid-Century Modern”? How Did Americans Come to Love “Mid-Century Modern”?
Solving the riddle of America’s obsession with postwar design and furniture.
Isaac Julien’s Truth Isaac Julien’s Truth
Dealing with time, race, and utopias, his work challenges conventional notions of where film belongs and should be consumed.
What Happened to the 21st-Century City? What Happened to the 21st-Century City?
And how we can save it.
Film & Television
The Genius of Nuri Bilge Ceylan The Genius of Nuri Bilge Ceylan
About Dry Grasses is long, dense, elliptical—and brilliant.
The Only Relationship That Matters in “Challengers” The Only Relationship That Matters in “Challengers”
What truly matters in Luca Guadagnino’s sexed-up tennis thriller is not the love triangle at its center but all the details that surround it.
The Unanswered Questions of “True Detective” The Unanswered Questions of “True Detective”
Like a Raymond Chandler detective story, Night Country ultimately wants to turn its audience’s attention away from the mysteries of the dead toward those of the living.
Latest in Books & the Arts
Jack Conroy and the Lost Era of Proletarian Literature Jack Conroy and the Lost Era of Proletarian Literature
In the midst of the Depression, Conroy helped encourage a new generation of working-class writers.
Apr 30, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Devin Thomas O’Shea
Want to Fight Mass Incarceration? Start With Your Local Jail Want to Fight Mass Incarceration? Start With Your Local Jail
A new collection of essays from academics and activists devoted to prison abolition focuses on the quiet but rapid expansion of the carceral system in small towns and municipaliti…
Apr 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jarrod Shanahan
Is Comedy Really an Art? Is Comedy Really an Art?
A history of comedy’s last three decades of pop culture dominance argues that it is among the consequential American art forms.
Apr 24, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Ginny Hogan
Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix Talking “Solidarity” With Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix
A conversation with the activists and writers about their wide-ranging history of the politics of the common good and togetherness.
Apr 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins
The Education Factory The Education Factory
By looking at the labor history of academia, you can see the roots of a crisis in higher education that has been decades in the making.
Apr 22, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Erik Baker
Pacita Abad Wove the Women of the World Together Pacita Abad Wove the Women of the World Together
Her art integrated painting, quilting, and the assemblage of Indigenous practices from around the globe to forge solidarity.
Apr 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jasmine Liu