Culture

Farewell, Norman Birnbaum, 1926–2019

Farewell, Norman Birnbaum, 1926–2019 Farewell, Norman Birnbaum, 1926–2019

For those of us who worked with Norman, it’s hard to imagine The Nation without him. He contributed articles, editorials, and reviews to our pages for an astounding six decades.

Jan 9, 2019 / The Nation

The Last Great Literary Painter

The Last Great Literary Painter The Last Great Literary Painter

The legacy of Eugène Delacroix. 

Jan 7, 2019 / Barry Schwabsky

Aldean Country Concert

Country Music Is Also Mexican Music Country Music Is Also Mexican Music

The Department of Homeland Security recruits agents at country festivals, but the musical genre knows no borders.

Jan 3, 2019 / Ludwig Hurtado

Amos Oz Obituary

Remembering Amos Oz, the Humane Heart of Israel Remembering Amos Oz, the Humane Heart of Israel

How will Israel imagine itself with this uncompromising truth speaker no longer on the scene?

Jan 2, 2019 / Amy Wilentz

How Curators Are Finding the Climate in Art History

How Curators Are Finding the Climate in Art History How Curators Are Finding the Climate in Art History

The recent “Nature’s Nation” exhibition locates the hidden ecological and environmental roots of American art. 

Dec 27, 2018 / Hannah Stamler

Yemen Bombed Buildings

Chaos in Yemen: A Conversation With Isa Blumi Chaos in Yemen: A Conversation With Isa Blumi

A historian of the Middle East unpacks the widely misunderstood origins of one of the world’s most devastating conflicts.

Dec 21, 2018 / Gunar Olsen

The Best Albums of 2018

The Best Albums of 2018 The Best Albums of 2018

A striking number of this year’s most potent albums give voice to the disorientation, anxiety, and rage that infuse the human experience today.

Dec 21, 2018 / David Hajdu

‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney

‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney ‘Vice’ Captures All the Flaws and Excesses of Dick Cheney

More agitprop than biopic, Vice has enough depth to excite pity, fear, and a creepy, corporeal dread.

Dec 21, 2018 / Stuart Klawans

What the Parrot Said

What the Parrot Said What the Parrot Said

My friend tells me his uncle the sailor died and left him a parrot that nobody else would take because the bird was so profane, and not long after, my friend threw a party at his h…

Dec 20, 2018 / Books & the Arts / David Kirby

The Microscopes

The Microscopes The Microscopes

Heavy and expensive, hard and black With bits of chrome, they looked Like baby cannons, the real children of war, and I Hated them for that, for what our teacher said They could do…

Dec 20, 2018 / Books & the Arts / Jericho Brown

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