Why Trump Doesn’t Wear a Mask Why Trump Doesn’t Wear a Mask
“As any woman can tell you, the masks smear makeup. The president is afraid of makeup stains on his mask and unsightly smears on his photographed face.” —letter to The New York Ti…
Oct 6, 2020 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Yaa Gyasi’s Family Chronicle Yaa Gyasi’s Family Chronicle
At the center of Gyasi's new novel are the unspoken bonds and tensions between mothers and daughters.
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Lovia Gyarkye
Richard Hofstadter’s Discontents Richard Hofstadter’s Discontents
Why did the historian come to fear the very movements he once would have celebrated?
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Jeet Heer
Nicholson Baker’s Maddening Search for the Truth Nicholson Baker’s Maddening Search for the Truth
Denied access to files about the use of biological weapons during the Cold War, the novelist transformed his new book into a study of how America keeps its secrets.
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Charlie Savage
Who Will Save the News? Who Will Save the News?
Victor Pickard’s new book argues that without a public intervention American journalism faces a dire future.
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Anya Schiffrin
Claudia Rankine’s Dialogue With America Claudia Rankine’s Dialogue With America
In Just Us, the poet offers a searing assessment of racism and loneliness in today’s America. But while she’s pessimistic about the present, she’s also hopeful about the future.
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques
After Abolition After Abolition
Prisons and cops survive only in tales for the young like twin Atlantises or two drowned boogeymen. A cop’s as harmless a Halloween getup as any monster, while a prisoner costume’s…
Oct 6, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Kyle Carrero Lopez
The Supreme Court’s War on Equality The Supreme Court’s War on Equality
In Supreme Inequality, Adam Cohen offers a damning indictment of Supreme Court jurisprudence, reminding us of just how political the country's highest court is.
Oct 5, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Randall Kennedy
American History Is Getting Whitewashed, Again American History Is Getting Whitewashed, Again
As demands for racial justice grow, Trump is pushing historical mythmaking into high gear.
Oct 2, 2020 / Column / Kali Holloway
Sufjan Stevens’s Lullabies for the Apocalypse Sufjan Stevens’s Lullabies for the Apocalypse
His new album’s gentle pessimism about our state of affairs makes for a weirdly soothing musical experience.
Oct 1, 2020 / Bijan Stephen