Books & the Arts

The Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg, 2017.

The Place Where Millennials Go to Die The Place Where Millennials Go to Die

Vincenzo Latronico’s novel Perfection, a cutting portrait of bourgeois expats in Berlin, examines a generation's fixations and degradation in the German capital.

May 28, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Hanson O’Haver 

Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp speaks at the US Capitol Visitor Center Auditorium in Washington, DC, 2025.

Palantir’s Idea of Peace Palantir’s Idea of Peace

Alex Karp uses his company and his platform to advocate for a world in which big tech is the defense industry's most willing collaborator.

May 27, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Michael Eby

How Should We Remember  Attica?

How Should We Remember Attica? How Should We Remember Attica?

Orisanmi Burton’s Tip of the Spear uncovers the obscured and radical demands of the inmates who staged the 1971 prison uprising—a world without prisons.

May 26, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Charlotte Rosen

Can Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza Remake the War Movie?

Can Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza Remake the War Movie? Can Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza Remake the War Movie?

Warfare attempts to rewrite the rules of depicting violent conflict on screen, making for a close-up, visceral experience.

May 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Beatrice Loayza

A view of Athens, Greece (circa 1900).

What Was the Polis? What Was the Polis?

For the Greeks, the idea was a fluid one—a literal place and a civic ideal that allowed for democracy to flourish.

May 21, 2025 / Books & the Arts / FT

Altadena, California, after the January 2025 fires.

How Should Los Angeles Rebuild After the Fires? How Should Los Angeles Rebuild After the Fires?

In the aftermath of this year's catastrophic fires, architects and urban planners begin to consider how to rebuild.

May 19, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

Lady Gaga performing this spring.

The Retro Pop of Lady Gaga and Baths The Retro Pop of Lady Gaga and Baths

In their new albums, the musicians look backward as much as forward.

May 15, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Bijan Stephen

Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves

Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves

Her fiction are studies of fragmentation and ambivalence.

May 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Lovia Gyarkye

Is Criticism Really in Crisis?

Is Criticism Really in Crisis? Is Criticism Really in Crisis?

Andrea Long Chu and the politics of critical life.

May 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Kevin Lozano

Nation Poetry

The Beginning The Beginning

May 13, 2025 / Books & the Arts / John Skoyles

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