Books & the Arts

Virginie Despentes’s Philosophy of Rage

Virginie Despentes’s Philosophy of Rage Virginie Despentes’s Philosophy of Rage

Her manifesto King Kong Theory presents a seductive yet contradictory vision of feminism.

Oct 12, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Dilara O’Neil

Someone Else’s Discomfort: On Gregg Bordowitz

Someone Else’s Discomfort: On Gregg Bordowitz Someone Else’s Discomfort: On Gregg Bordowitz

How the writer, artist, and activist exposes what is fraught in masculinity.

Oct 11, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Hua Hsu

The Grotesque and Sublime Transformations of “Titane”

The Grotesque and Sublime Transformations of “Titane” The Grotesque and Sublime Transformations of “Titane”

Julia Ducournau’s surreal horror film is a harrowing exploration of the body and technology.

Oct 7, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Phoebe Chen

US history: Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation

Did the Constitution Pave the Way to Emancipation? Did the Constitution Pave the Way to Emancipation?

In his new book, The Crooked Path to Abolition, James Oakes argues that the Constitution was an antislavery document.

Oct 6, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner

Eric Williams and the Tangled History of Capitalism and Slavery

Eric Williams and the Tangled History of Capitalism and Slavery Eric Williams and the Tangled History of Capitalism and Slavery

The historian and politician helped transform how several generations understood 18th- and 19th-century history.

Oct 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Gerald Horne

Anthony Veasna So’s Portraits of Diaspora

Anthony Veasna So’s Portraits of Diaspora Anthony Veasna So’s Portraits of Diaspora

His posthumous collection Afterparties is part of a new wave of writing on the cultural memory and historical traumas of Southeast Asian immigrants. 

Oct 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Larissa Pham

The Expansive Feminism of Jacqueline Rose

The Expansive Feminism of Jacqueline Rose The Expansive Feminism of Jacqueline Rose

Rose’s latest book, On Violence and On Violence Against Women, is a rigorous and capacious study of contemporary gender politics and solidarity.

Oct 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Cora Currier

Do We Need to Work?

Do We Need to Work? Do We Need to Work?

In Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots, anthropologist James Suzman asks whether we might learn to live like our ancestors did—that is, to value free time...

Oct 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Benanav

Was Jimmy Carter an Outlier?

Was Jimmy Carter an Outlier? Was Jimmy Carter an Outlier?

Politicians say things to get elected and then, once in office, do otherwise; that’s politics. But Carter demanded that we grade him on a curve.

Oct 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Rick Perlstein

Grace Cho’s Memoir of Food and Empire

Grace Cho’s Memoir of Food and Empire Grace Cho’s Memoir of Food and Empire

Intertwining a personal story of Korean food ways and a family history caught in the midst of violence, Tastes Like War tests the limits, and shows the power, of memoir.

Oct 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / E. Tammy Kim

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