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
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
A Novel Caught Between 2 Plagues A Novel Caught Between 2 Plagues
Looking at both the AIDS crisis and the Covid pandemic, Kate Zambreno’s To Write as if Already Dead grapples with how illness changes our conception of self.
Sep 29, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jamie Hood
All Eyes on Lil Nas X All Eyes on Lil Nas X
His debut album, Montero, is attuned to the spectacle of celebrity, but doesn’t cohere into compelling music.
Sep 28, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
The Quiet Power of Everyday Resistance The Quiet Power of Everyday Resistance
Scholar Roger Mac Ginty’s Everyday Peace explores how acts of individual solidarity or noncompliance are vital in forging conciliation amid war and violence.
Sep 27, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Francis Wade
Is There a Better Way to Tell the Story of Nonhuman Life? Is There a Better Way to Tell the Story of Nonhuman Life?
Thalia Field’s Personhood challenges us to examine how human language has made it harder to care for the natural world.
Sep 23, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Vorona Cote
Dana Spiotta’s Political Fiction Dana Spiotta’s Political Fiction
In her new novel, Wayward, Spiotta offers an intricate portrait of how one woman experienced the uncertain days and months after Trump’s election.
Sep 22, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Katie Fitzpatrick
Russia’s War Against the Cold Russia’s War Against the Cold
A new history considers how the struggle with Siberia’s permafrost redefined the country.
Sep 21, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson
David Graeber and David Wengrow’s Anarchist History of Humanity David Graeber and David Wengrow’s Anarchist History of Humanity
In The Dawn of Everything, Graeber and Wengrow offer a sweeping and ambitious exploration of life without the state.
Sep 20, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Immerwahr
The Climate Apocalypse According to Joy Williams The Climate Apocalypse According to Joy Williams
With her first novel in 20 years, Harrow, the radical environmentalist envisions an uncompromising politics necessary for defending the natural world.
Sep 16, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Piccarella