Art and Exile in the Third Republic Art and Exile in the Third Republic
James McAuley’s The House of Fragile Things examines the travails of a circle of Jewish art collectors, tracing a history of betrayal and dispossession.
Aug 16, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Hannah Stamler
Democracy’s Money Problem Democracy’s Money Problem
Comparing democracies across the world, a new book reveals that when it comes to financing elections they are not that democratic at all.
Aug 11, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jan-Werner Müller
The Liberation of Alice Neel The Liberation of Alice Neel
Her paintings were a site of expression for populist politics and in her art she found something close to freedom from the doldrums of her personal life.
Aug 10, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jillian Steinhauer
Whose Side Is the Supreme Court On? Whose Side Is the Supreme Court On?
Many people who came of age in the 1950s and 60s view the Supreme Court as a force for good when it comes to race. But the court has often been the most anti-progressive branch of ...
Aug 9, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Randall Kennedy
“Zola” and the Limits of the Internet Movie “Zola” and the Limits of the Internet Movie
An adaptation of a viral Twitter thread only scratches the surface of how film storytelling might intersect with life online.
Aug 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz
Bourdain’s Wake Bourdain’s Wake
How to tell the story of Anthony Bourdain?
Aug 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jeet Heer
Luchita Hurtado’s Spiritual Modernism Luchita Hurtado’s Spiritual Modernism
Her paintings strove to convey the ways sublime experience could be found in nature and the body.
Aug 4, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl
The Fiction of Meaningful Work The Fiction of Meaningful Work
Kikuko Tsumura’s new novel examines what unites jobs good or bad: the stories we tell ourselves to cope with how much toil sucks in the first place.
Aug 3, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Marie Solis
The Story of “El Chapo” and Why the Drug War Will Never End The Story of “El Chapo” and Why the Drug War Will Never End
A conversation with Noah Hurowitz about his new book on the Mexican drug lord and the lurid spectacle of mainstream drug coverage.
Aug 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Zachary Siegel
What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented What the Harlem Cultural Festival Represented
Questlove’s debut as a director, the documentary Summer of Soul, revisits a musical event that encapsulated the energies of Harlem in the 1960s.
Jul 29, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu