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Letters From the March 2026 Issue Letters From the March 2026 Issue

Basement books… Kate Wagner replies… Reading Pirandello (online only)… Gus O’Connor replies…

Feb 10, 2026 / Our Readers, Kate Wagner, and Gus O’Connor

A World War II–themed party held by the residents of Rose Mount, Birkby, 1986.

Barbara Pym’s Archaic England Barbara Pym’s Archaic England

In the novelist’s work, she mocks English culture’s nostalgia, revealing what lies beneath the country’s obsession with its heritage.

Feb 6, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Ashley Cullina

How Big Gaming Is Swallowing Up the Big Game

How Big Gaming Is Swallowing Up the Big Game How Big Gaming Is Swallowing Up the Big Game

The Super Bowl will showcase the lords of legalized betting, even as they’ve already colonized every other reach of human experience.

Feb 6, 2026 / Matt Alston

Sir William Gell’s “The Removal of the Sculptures from the Pediments of the Parthenon by Lord Elgin,” 1801.

Why We’re Still Fighting Over Elgin’s Marbles Why We’re Still Fighting Over Elgin’s Marbles

In A.E. Stallings’s Frieze Frame, the poet retells the many conflicts, political and cultural, the ransacked portion of the Parthenon has inspired.

Feb 5, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Nicolas Liney

The State Theatre in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, 2021 / A.S. Hamrah

Is It Too Late to Save Hollywood? Is It Too Late to Save Hollywood?

A conversation with A.S. Hamrah about the dispiriting state of the movie business in the post-Covid era.

Feb 4, 2026 / Q&A / Kyle Paoletta

Melania Trump attends the premiere of “Melania” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026.

The Melania in “Melania” Likes Her Gilded Cage Just Fine The Melania in “Melania” Likes Her Gilded Cage Just Fine

The $45 million advertorial abounds in unintended ironies.

Feb 2, 2026 / Katha Pollitt

First lady Melania Trump at the Kennedy Center premier of

Melania at the Multiplex Melania at the Multiplex

Packaging a $75 million bribe from Jeff Bezos as a vapid, content-challenged biopic.

Feb 2, 2026 / Elizabeth Spiers

Ishmael Reed Portrait Oakland

Ishmael Reed on His Diverse Inspirations Ishmael Reed on His Diverse Inspirations

The origins of the Before Columbus Foundation.

Jan 30, 2026 / Ishmael Reed

The Cartoonist, the Director, and the Sex Workers

The Cartoonist, the Director, and the Sex Workers The Cartoonist, the Director, and the Sex Workers

Sook-Yin Lee’s new romantic comedy, Paying for It, explores Platonic love and prostitution.

Jan 29, 2026 / Jeet Heer

The skyline of Madrid seen during twilight from the roof top of the Riu Plaza Madrid, 2019.

How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital

Madrid has changed greatly since 1975, at once opening itself to immigrants from Latin America while also doubling down on conservative politics.

Jan 28, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Sebastiaan Faber and Bécquer Seguín

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