Books & the Arts

A man carries electronic waste at Agbogbloshie dumpsite in Ghanaian capital of Accra, 2017.

Want to Understand Global Inequality? Visit the Dump. Want to Understand Global Inequality? Visit the Dump.

Alexander Clapp’s Waste Wars, a world-spanning inquiry into the politics of garbage, makes a case that everything that is wrong with capitalism is embodied in our trash.

Jul 23, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Carol Schaeffer

Illustration by Eric Drooker DROOKER

The Enduring Lessons of Wages for Housework The Enduring Lessons of Wages for Housework

Emily Callaci’s history of the international feminist movement examines the influence of their intellectual and political victories.

Jul 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Maia Silber

The comedian Marty Feldman as Pan in “Every Home Should Have One,” 1969.

The Impish Modernism of Michael Clune The Impish Modernism of Michael Clune

In Pan, his debut novel, he makes the unruly mind of a teenager the stuff of high art.

Jul 21, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Adam Wilson

The Life and Times of Talking Heads

The Life and Times of Talking Heads The Life and Times of Talking Heads

How influential was the New Wave band?

Jul 17, 2025 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

The Fragmented Lives of Nate Lippens

The Fragmented Lives of Nate Lippens The Fragmented Lives of Nate Lippens

His bracing novels represent an honest reckoning with the post-AIDS era and its effect on life and imagination.

Jul 15, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Gutterman Tranen

The exterior of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, 2025.

The Damage Being Done to the Museums in the Nation’s Capital The Damage Being Done to the Museums in the Nation’s Capital

Our art critic visits the Smithsonian American Art Museum to get a closer look at the Trump administration’s attack on DC arts institutions.

Jul 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

James Schuyler in New York City, 1988.

The Miracles of James Schuyler The Miracles of James Schuyler

Nathan Kernan’s biography of the New York School poet tracks the development of his serene and joyful work alongside the chaos of his life.

Jul 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Evan Kindley

Jürgen Habermas in Berlin, Germany, 2018.

Jürgen Habermas Still Believes in Modernity Jürgen Habermas Still Believes in Modernity

A conversation with the German theorist about the history of Western philosophy and more.

Jul 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

A police officer cordons the entrance to the criminal courts building in New York, where demonstrators protested the acquittal of six transit police officers in the death of graffiti artist Michael Stewart, 1985.

Michael Stewart’s Death Still Haunts New York Michael Stewart’s Death Still Haunts New York

In 1985, police were acquitted in the killing of a graffiti artist and painter, a grisly act that galvanized the city’s art underground. Why has he been forgotten?

Jul 3, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Michael Shorris

Joan Didion, 2007.

Joan Didion Undone Joan Didion Undone

Notes to John, posthumously published journal entries chronicling Didion’s therapy sessions, is a peek into the myths and fears that animated her writing life.

Jul 2, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Emma Hager

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