Books & the Arts
The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq
What happened to the French novelist?
The Impossible Story of Communism The Impossible Story of Communism
How do you tell the history of a global movement in all its hope and contradiction?
The Long History of the “Elsewhere Museum” The Long History of the “Elsewhere Museum”
Can the ethnographic museum be reinvented?
The Apprenticeship of Donald Trump The Apprenticeship of Donald Trump
A new film examines Trump’s formative years under the tutelage of Roy Cohn.
From the Magazine
Emily Oster and the Optimization of Parenting Emily Oster and the Optimization of Parenting
What gets lost when we approach pregnancy and raising children through data?
Can New York’s Most Famous Street be Turned into a Park? Can New York’s Most Famous Street be Turned into a Park?
The effort to transform Broadway into a pedestrian space.
The Rise of the Influencer Chefs The Rise of the Influencer Chefs
How a new generation of food TV on Tiktok and Instagram is remaking how we relate to cooking and eating.
Literary Criticism
Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money
Having gnawed away at literary and political conventions from within their hallowed forms, Senna has now set her eyes on Hollywood.
Sally Rooney’s Open Question Sally Rooney’s Open Question
In Intermezzo, we get characters acting out their political commitments instead of just talking about them. But is their vision of domestic cooperation enough?
The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud
His work, unlike that of Bellow or Roth, focused on the lives of often impoverished Jews in Brooklyn and the Bronx and bestowed on them a literary magic.
History & Politics
What Happened to the Democratic Majority? What Happened to the Democratic Majority?
Today the march of class dealignment feels like an inexorable fact of American political life. But is it?
The Intractable Puzzle of Growth The Intractable Puzzle of Growth
For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we migh…
The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance
The deep roots of debt relief activism in the United States.
Art & Architecture
The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance
A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the world-spanning art of the Harlem Renaissance.
Rain and Mountains Rain and Mountains
Pages from a novelist’s notebook.
What’s the Deal With Manhattan’s Pencil-Thin High Rises? What’s the Deal With Manhattan’s Pencil-Thin High Rises?
A walk along 57th Street.
Film & Television
The Empty Promise of “Megalopolis” The Empty Promise of “Megalopolis”
Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited magnum opus is a flop.
“Industry”’s Gleeful Critique of Capital “Industry”’s Gleeful Critique of Capital
HBO’s investment banking drama makes a soap opera out of the “useless” but lurid nature of finance.
“Anora,” an American Fantasia “Anora,” an American Fantasia
In Sean Baker’s tragicomic film of a sex worker’s brush with wealth, he evokes auteurs of yore, who focused on the social realities of the country’s outcasts.
Latest in Books & the Arts
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
Along the Roads That Built Modern Brazil Along the Roads That Built Modern Brazil
José Henrique Bortoluci’s What Is Mine tells the story of his country’s laborers, like his father, who built its infrastructure, and in turn its fractious politics.
Dec 4, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jimin Kang
In the Zone of the Rich In the Zone of the Rich
In The Hidden Globe, Atossa Araxia Abrahamian examines what globalization has come to look like for the wealthy.
Nov 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Vanessa Ogle
The Perils of a Post-Racial Utopia The Perils of a Post-Racial Utopia
In Nicola Yoon’s One of Our Kind, a dystopian novel of a Black upper-class suburb’s secrets, she examines the dangers of choosing exceptionalism over equality.
Nov 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture
A recent history of the 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.
Nov 20, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Zoe Adams
Slavery in an Age of Emancipation Slavery in an Age of Emancipation
Robin Blackburn’s sweeping history of slavery and freedom in the 19th century.
Nov 19, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Manisha Sinha