The Outer Limits of Painting

Recent shows from Rick Lowe and Mary Heilmann subvert expectations of the medium, their work exploring social life and its imperfections past the confines of the canvas.

Barry Schwabsky

Martine Syms’s Portrait of Art School Alienation

With her feature film The African Desperate, the visual artist delves into the social and intellectual pitfalls of the MFA experience.

Jordan Coley

Mike Leigh’s High Hopes

From Meantime to Another Year, the British director is often concerned with the aftermath of crushed ideals. Yet his films also reveal an underlying and stubborn faith that change is not entirely out of reach.

Ela Bittencourt

How Saidiya Hartman Changed the Study of Black Life

A conversation with writer about her pathbreaking book Scenes of Subjection and how our understanding of race has changed in the last two decades. 

Elias Rodriques

The Civil War’s Economic Shadow

To finance the war, the Union had to turn to the banks, and with lasting consequences.

Stephanie McCurry

Mama I Am Sorry

Cindy Juyoung Ok

First Foray Into Apophatic Theology

Matthew Olzammn

How the Courts Stack the Odds Against the Innocent

A new book by Daniel Medwed examines the reasons the wrongfully convicted find it so hard to prove their innocence.

Jed S. Rakoff

Javier Zamora and the Canon of Undocumented Literature

The poet’s memoir joins a growing body of work chronicling the personal and political odysseys undocumented Americans face. 

Jesús A. Rodríguez

How Useful Is Theory In Moments of Crisis?

A conversation with sociologist Dylan Riley about the state of left politics, defending social theory as a political tool, and his new book Microverses.

Ishan Desai-Geller