Culture

Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon in “The End.”

What Comes After the Apocalypse? A Q&A With Joshua Oppenheimer What Comes After the Apocalypse? A Q&A With Joshua Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer’s latest film, The End, is a Golden Age, postapocalyptic musical crying out from the depths of the earth.

Dec 14, 2024 / Peter Sellars

The pure products of America: Roy Cohn and Donald Trump at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC, on March 20, 1983.

Donald Trump Is the Authentic American Berserk Donald Trump Is the Authentic American Berserk

Far from being an alien interloper, the incoming president draws from homegrown authoritarianism.

Dec 13, 2024 / Jeet Heer

US congressman, writer, and scientist Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (1831–1901), circa 1863. He was the member of the US House of Representatives from Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. An engraving by G.E. Perine.

The Peculiar Case of Ignatius Donnelly The Peculiar Case of Ignatius Donnelly

The Minnesota politician presents a riddle for historians. He was a beloved populist but also a crackpot conspiracist. Were his politics tainted by his strange beliefs?

Dec 12, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Andrew Katzenstein

Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets reacts after a play during the second half of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium, 2024.

The Agony of Aaron Rodgers The Agony of Aaron Rodgers

Is he the world’s most interesting athlete or is he just a washed-up crackpot?

Dec 11, 2024 / Books & the Arts / John Semley

A bunch of flowers marks the spot where 40 infants who died in the Bethany mother-and-baby home were buried in unmarked graves at Mount Jerome graveyard in Dublin.

Can You Understand Ireland Through One Family’s Terrible Secret? Can You Understand Ireland Through One Family’s Terrible Secret?

In Missing Persons, Clair Wills's intimate story of institutionalized Irish women and children, shows how a family's history and a nation’s history run in parallel.

Dec 10, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Emily McBride

Chet or Biff? What We Can Learn Politically From the Biggest Dirtbags of ’80s Teen Movies

Chet or Biff? What We Can Learn Politically From the Biggest Dirtbags of ’80s Teen Movies Chet or Biff? What We Can Learn Politically From the Biggest Dirtbags of ’80s Teen Movies

On this episode of Edge of Sports, Hollywood makeup artist Spring Super joins the show to talk politics and ’80s teen villains.

Dec 9, 2024 / Podcast

Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle

Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle

His art criticism fixated on the narcissism of the entire enterprise. But over six decades, his work proved that a critic could be an artist too.

Dec 9, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Zachary Fine

Matthew Yglesias and the Problems of Popularism

Matthew Yglesias and the Problems of Popularism Matthew Yglesias and the Problems of Popularism

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion on a polarizing centrist pundit.

Dec 8, 2024 / Podcast / Jeet Heer

How the Western Literary Canon Made the World Worse

How the Western Literary Canon Made the World Worse How the Western Literary Canon Made the World Worse

A talk with Dionne Brand about her recent book, Salvage, which looks at how the classic texts of Anglo-American fiction helped abet the crimes of capitalism, colonialism, and more...

Dec 5, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques

Les Mis

Les Mis Les Mis

The grovel pit.

Dec 4, 2024 / OppArt / Steve Brodner

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