Culture

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

A Living Archive of Peter Hujar

A Living Archive of Peter Hujar A Living Archive of Peter Hujar

The director Ira Sachs’s transforms an intimate interview with the photographer into a film about friendship, routine, and why we make art at all.

Jan 27, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Phoebe Chen

George Whitmore, 1987.

George Whitmore’s Unsparing Queer Fiction George Whitmore’s Unsparing Queer Fiction

Long out of print, his novel Nebraska is an enigmatic record of queer survival in midcentury America.

Jan 26, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Jeremy Lybarger

Left: Graham Granger after his arraignment outside the court building. Right: The art exhibit, made with the help of AI, by Nick Dwyer.

Meet the Alaska Student Arrested for Eating an AI Art Exhibit Meet the Alaska Student Arrested for Eating an AI Art Exhibit

A conversation with Graham Granger, whose combination of protest and performance art spread beyond campus. “AI chews up and spits out art made by other people.”

Jan 22, 2026 / StudentNation / Colin Warren

A migrant worker at a Riyadh construction site.

The Line, a Saudi Megaproject, Is Dead The Line, a Saudi Megaproject, Is Dead

It was always doomed to unravel, but the firms who lent their name to this folly should be held accountable.

Jan 21, 2026 / Column / Kate Wagner

Bruce Springsteen speaking at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey, on January 17, 2026.

Springsteen Defends the Promised Land Against ICE’s “Gestapo Tactics” Springsteen Defends the Promised Land Against ICE’s “Gestapo Tactics”

Mourning for Renee Nicole Good, the singer decried the Trump administration and the threat to freedom posed by “heavily armed masked federal troops invading an American city.”

Jan 20, 2026 / John Nichols

Angelo Herndon, whose conviction for a crime related to free speech was overturned in 1935, arrives at NYC’s Penn Station.

Is It Possible for Speech to Ever Be Too Free? Is It Possible for Speech to Ever Be Too Free?

A new history explores the political limits as well as possibilities of freedom of speech.

Jan 20, 2026 / Books & the Arts / David Cole

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