Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’ Marriage, Power and ‘The Obamas’
The swirl of controversy over Jodi Kantor’s biography reflects deep cultural anxieties about the limits we place on women in power.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ilyse Hogue
The Wicked Art of Caricature The Wicked Art of Caricature
Five centuries of political pans by a lot of old masters and a few new ones, on exhibit at the Met.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Edward Sorel
An Explanation of Gingrich’s Ad Accusing Romney of Being Able to Speak French An Explanation of Gingrich’s Ad Accusing Romney of Being Able to Speak French
Big Mo is what Gingrich is desperate to stop. He talks of how Romney will flip and will flop. He charges that Romney now goes through contortions To hide being someone who funded abortions And hide that in business wherever he’d roam Some innocent workers would lose hearth and home. There’s no way, Newt says, you can call Mitt a mensch. But what’s even worse is, the man can speak French. Yes, being bilingual is really too much. It shows you’re elitist and way out of touch. Bilingual means speaking one language too many. We’ve voted for leaders who hardly speak any. Republican voters know one thing. It’s this: That ignorance rocks. (It’s sometimes called bliss.) So all Romney-huggers should undo their clench. Mitt Romney’s a menace: the man can speak French.
Jan 18, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
All that Lore: On James Wolcott All that Lore: On James Wolcott
The critic James Wolcott has been gamely fighting losing battles for most of his career.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Joan Didion’s Blue Nights, Peter Van Buren’s We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Alexandra Schwartz
Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use Fair and Balanced: On Copyright and Fair Use
Have copyright laws failed?
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Caleb Crain
Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett Everything Except Me: On Percival Everett
In Assumption a murder mystery becomes a lesson in how much we do not know.
Jan 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Laila Lalami
Newt Lays Into Mitt Newt Lays Into Mitt
It’s “pious baloney.” Yes, pious baloney. What Mitt speaks, Newt says, is remarkably phony: His outsider citizen pose is all hooey; He’s hungered for office like Thomas E. Dewey. And what he was doing those years spent at Bain Was not create jobs but cause working stiffs pain. While Newt covers Mitt’s smooth exterior with blotches, Obama’s campaign staff just carefully watches.
Jan 11, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan The Devil, Probably: On Maurizio Cattelan
An artist known as a trickster and showman stages a disappearing act at the Guggenheim.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Crime and Punishment: On William Stuntz Crime and Punishment: On William Stuntz
A lack of local democracy and equal protection has led to the collapse of the American criminal justice system.
Jan 11, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell