Gallery / February 13, 2026

Molly Crabapple’s Time Capsule of Resistance

A new set of note cards by the artist and writer documents scenes of protest in the 21st century.

Molly Crabapple
A destroyed Russian tank in front of St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery (Kyiv, 2022).

I’ve spent the past 15 years traveling around the world and documenting history as it happens. I use my sketch pad the way a photojournalist might use their camera: to capture scenes of protest, celebration, repression, and revolt. OR Books has gathered some of my favorite pieces for a collectible note-card set, titled Can You See the New World Through the Teargas? Use these cards to write love letters or ransom notes. Or get them framed for your wall. And remember: Every handwritten letter is a rebellion against Silicon Valley dystopia.

The pictures in this set range from kids playing with their kitten in the Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, to a showtime dancer doing backflips in a New York City subway car, to images from the trial of Luigi Mangione. For all of them, I tried to use the lessons I first learned at 20 while sketching next to the stages of underground nightclubs. Each fleet-­footed second is a universe of impossible richness. Look hard. Draw fast. Be ruthless. Get it right.

The Faroukh family’s damaged home (Bethlehem, 2023).
Luchadora (Puerto Rico, 2018).
Taxi-driver protests (New York City, 2021).
Drinking water from a spring after Hurricane Maria (Puerto Rico, 2017).
Published by OR Books. Use the code MOLLY2026 for 15 percent off the card set when ordering from ORBooks.com.

Molly Crabapple

Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer for outlets including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The New York Review of Books. She is the author of Drawing Blood and National Book Award–nominated Brothers of the Gun, with Marwan Hisham. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

More from The Nation

Love and Literature in Leslie Fiedler’s America

Love and Literature in Leslie Fiedler’s America Love and Literature in Leslie Fiedler’s America

When will the American novel grow up?

Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick

Imani Thompson’s Grad-school Thriller

Imani Thompson’s Grad-school Thriller Imani Thompson’s Grad-school Thriller

In Honey, the novelist offers a different take on the campus satire.

Books & the Arts / Edna Bonhomme

What’s Behind the Dubai-ification of America’s Yemeni Cafés?

What’s Behind the Dubai-ification of America’s Yemeni Cafés? What’s Behind the Dubai-ification of America’s Yemeni Cafés?

Over the years, Yemeni cafés have become beloved establishments for students and coffee lovers alike. But recently they have undergone a conspicuous aesthetic makeover.

StudentNation / Mohamad Rimawi

Dolly Parton performs at the Roxy in West Hollywood in 1977.

Dolly Parton Was More Than an Icon Dolly Parton Was More Than an Icon

Later in life, she was heralded as a symbol of Americana—complete with her own amusement park. But what will last of her is her body of work.

Obituary / Nick Murray