Culture

Donald Trump with construction workers at the Trump Palace.

How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State

The proliferation of privately held companies during the Reagan years laid the foundations for Trump’s approach to government.

Oct 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Kim Phillips-Fein

Secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth at a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on January 14.

Pete Hegseth’s Call to Arms Pete Hegseth’s Call to Arms

Oct 14, 2025 / Column / Calvin Trillin

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas.

We Defeated McCarthyism Before. We Can Do It Again. We Defeated McCarthyism Before. We Can Do It Again.

It’s easy to feel despair about what looks like a new age of government censorship. But being around for 160 years gives you perspective.

Oct 13, 2025 / Katrina vanden Heuvel, John Nichols for The Nation

The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism

The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism

Karl Marx never visited the United States, but he and his ideas left an imprint nonetheless.

Oct 13, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Robin Blackburn

Fans cheer at an event for the movie

Revolutionary Violence and “One Battle After Another” Revolutionary Violence and “One Battle After Another”

On this episode of The Time of Monsters: David Klion on the historical resonance of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie.

Oct 12, 2025 / Podcast / Jeet Heer

Bot-Eat-Bot-World

Bot-Eat-Bot-World Bot-Eat-Bot-World

Artificial indigestion.

Oct 8, 2025 / OppArt / Brian Stauffer

Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary

Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary

The New York writer and editor’s diaries of the AIDS era presents a curious case of what we are supposed to expect from private documents that become historical sources.

Oct 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Sheila McClear

Toni Morrison, 1977.

“To Free Someone Else”: Toni Morrison the Book Editor “To Free Someone Else”: Toni Morrison the Book Editor

A recent book on her career in publishing makes the case that the great American novelist should also be seen as a pathbreaking editor.

Oct 6, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Marina Magloire

To many Middle-earth politicos, Sauron’s victory once seemed inevitable.

Trump, Like Sauron, Is Not Inevitable—but Only if We Refuse Despair Trump, Like Sauron, Is Not Inevitable—but Only if We Refuse Despair

J.R.R. Tolkien has a message for us: Don’t give in to Trump.

Oct 3, 2025 / Aaron Regunberg

Comedian Bill Burr, recently domesticated by a Saudi regime he says is “just like us.”

The Sad Spectacle of American Comedians Selling Out in Saudi Arabia The Sad Spectacle of American Comedians Selling Out in Saudi Arabia

It turns out that edgy free-speech warriors will scuttle their principles for a check from a brutal autocratic regime.

Oct 2, 2025 / Ben Schwartz

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