![Joni Mitchell being interviewed in 1972 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-104322874.jpg)
Seeing Ourselves in Joni Mitchell Seeing Ourselves in Joni Mitchell
Ann Powers’s deeply personal biography of Joni Mitchell looks at how a generation of listeners came to identify with the folk singer’s intimate songs.
Jun 11, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/AR_TL.jpeg)
Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions Arthur Russell’s Endless Reinventions
Since his death, his music has only become more influential and more mysterious.
Jun 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![Oscar statues, 1877.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Oscars-1877-getty.jpg)
What the Oscars Represent: Meritocracy Without Merit What the Oscars Represent: Meritocracy Without Merit
In Michael Schulman’s extensive history of the awards, Oscar Wars, he documents how the institution’s reactionary origins still leak into today’s film culture.
Mar 8, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![The Best Albums of 2022](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Collage-Maker-19-Dec-2022-03.19-1440x907-1.jpg)
The Best Albums of 2022 The Best Albums of 2022
David Hajdu’s favorite albums encompass everything from Bad Bunny to English metal to Afrobeat.
Dec 29, 2022 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![Julius Eastman’s Great Expectations](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Eastman-Portrait_Ron-Hammond.jpg)
Julius Eastman’s Great Expectations Julius Eastman’s Great Expectations
The neglected music of a revolutionary 20th-century composer continues to shock and awe.
Aug 12, 2022 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![The Best Albums of 2021](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1350164996.jpg)
The Best Albums of 2021 The Best Albums of 2021
Our music critic’s 10 favorite pieces of music from this year.
Dec 24, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![The Last Days of the Beatles](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/3b8d80123ece261ca2fe9d12c874f65e_2304x1716_8ae9c5a3.jpeg)
The Last Days of the Beatles The Last Days of the Beatles
Does Peter Jackson’s eight-hour documentary give us the fullest picture of the band’s late history?
Dec 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/0SUMMER_OF_SOUL_-_Sly_Stone._Courtesy_of_M.max-2000x2000-1.jpg)
What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented
Questlove’s debut as a director, the documentary Summer of Soul, revisits a musical event that encapsulated the energies of Harlem in the 1960s.
Jul 29, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![St. Vincent, 2020.](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-1097722234.jpg)
St. Vincent’s Journey Into Musical Memory St. Vincent’s Journey Into Musical Memory
An exploration of her father’s past and the rock music of the 1970s is a new challenge for the artist.
Jul 7, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
![The Music We Made in Lockdown](https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1249456756.jpg)
The Music We Made in Lockdown The Music We Made in Lockdown
On the artists who found new sounds in our collective solitude.
Feb 17, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu