Joanna Hogg and the Art of Life Joanna Hogg and the Art of Life
Her remarkable two-part film The Souvenir examines how an artist turns the fragments of their personal history into an enduring story.
Nov 11, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Devika Girish
“Succession”’s Repetition Compulsion “Succession”’s Repetition Compulsion
In Succession’s moral universe, no one can ever get what they want or what they deserve.
Nov 10, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Sam Adler-Bell
Dave Chappelle’s Comedy of Bitterness Dave Chappelle’s Comedy of Bitterness
In his recent special The Closer, and his response to critics of it, he outlines a strange version of identity politics where comedians are always the victims.
Nov 9, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
Omar El Akkad’s Odyssey of Hope Omar El Akkad’s Odyssey of Hope
His recent novel What Strange Paradise examines the personal and political toll of the refugee crisis.
Nov 8, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Adil Bhat
What “Passing” Can Still Teach Us About Identity What “Passing” Can Still Teach Us About Identity
A film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s novel dramatizes the mercurial and sometimes dangerous consequences of a person's performance of self in the public.
Nov 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques
Why Mike Nichols Was the Egalitarian Auteur Why Mike Nichols Was the Egalitarian Auteur
Mark Harris’s biography of the filmmaker shows that one cannot be an auteur without some help.
Nov 3, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Lindsay Zoladz
Francisco Goldman’s Altered States Francisco Goldman’s Altered States
In his new novel, Goldman asks readers to question the very essence of how we define ourselves.
Nov 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Ed Morales
The History of the United States as the History of Capitalism The History of the United States as the History of Capitalism
What gets lost when we view the American past as primarily a story about capitalism?
Nov 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Steven Hahn
The Moral and Magical Political Fictions of Carolina de Robertis The Moral and Magical Political Fictions of Carolina de Robertis
The Uruguayan American novelist’s The President and the Frog asks us to consider: What does it mean to be a good political actor?
Oct 29, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Lily Meyer
How the Hell Do We Fix the Creative Writing Workshop? How the Hell Do We Fix the Creative Writing Workshop?
Matthew Salesses’s Craft in the Real World proposes a new way to educate young writers without the baggage of the often biased and bland MFA pedagogy.
Oct 27, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard