Books & the Arts

What Connects the Paris Commune and the George Floyd Uprising?

What Connects the Paris Commune and the George Floyd Uprising? What Connects the Paris Commune and the George Floyd Uprising?

A conversation with the writer and theorist Jasper Bernes about the left after the summer of 2020 and the state of revolutionary politics.

Oct 29, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Clinton Williamson

Ron Padgett, 1995.

The Immortal Poetry of Ron Padgett The Immortal Poetry of Ron Padgett

Pink Dust, a collection about aging and death, offers an optimistic vision of life as a continual act of reading.

Oct 28, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Rhian Sasseen

The Future of Magazines… and the World

The Future of Magazines… and the World The Future of Magazines… and the World

A conversation with Thomas Meaney, the editor of Granta, about literature and the left.

Oct 27, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

A Downbeat Take on the Heist Movie

A Downbeat Take on the Heist Movie A Downbeat Take on the Heist Movie

Kelly Reichardt’s latest, a sly 1970s drama involving a museum theft, probes the broken politics of the decade.

Oct 23, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

Nicolas Poussin’s “Landscape with a Calm,” 1650–51.

What T.J. Clark Sees  What T.J. Clark Sees 

His art criticism reaches rarified heights—combining style, rigor, and politics like almost no one else.

Oct 22, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Chester Himes’s Harlem Noirs

Chester Himes’s Harlem Noirs Chester Himes’s Harlem Noirs

Himes helped reinvent the idea of the detective novel. He also transformed it into a powerful vehicle for social criticism.

Oct 20, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Gene Seymour

Rico Nasty backstage at Knitting Factory, 2018.

The Sonic Risks of PUP and Rico Nasty The Sonic Risks of PUP and Rico Nasty

On their new albums, the punk rockers and rapper break all the rules.

Oct 16, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Bijan Stephen

Walter Lippmann on the ocean liner Conte di Savoia.

Walter Lippmann’s Phantom Publics Walter Lippmann’s Phantom Publics

Arguably no American journalist wielded as much influence as Walter Lippmann did in the 20th century. But what did he do with that power?

Oct 15, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Gerald Howard

Nation Poetry

What We Talk About When We Talk About Cancer What We Talk About When We Talk About Cancer

Oct 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Jane Zwart

Donald Trump with construction workers at the Trump Palace.

How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State How the Capitalism of the 1980s Created Donald Trump’s Theory of the State

The proliferation of privately held companies during the Reagan years laid the foundations for Trump’s approach to government.

Oct 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Kim Phillips-Fein

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