Culture

Christopher Hill’s Revolutions Christopher Hill’s Revolutions

The radical life and work of the historian.

Books & the Arts / Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker

The Invention of Close Reading The Invention of Close Reading

By transforming quotations into evidence, close reading served as way to turn postwar criticism into a specialized knowledge. But what if we treated it more as an art form?

Books & the Arts / Dan Sinykin

World Press, Pope Leo, Sweeney Todd World Press, Pope Leo, Sweeney Todd

American pie.

Steve Brodner

Books

The Invention of Close Reading

The Invention of Close Reading The Invention of Close Reading

By transforming quotations into evidence, close reading served as way to turn postwar criticism into a specialized knowledge. But what if we treated it more as an art form?

Books & the Arts / Dan Sinykin

Sigrid Nunez On and Off the Big Screen

Sigrid Nunez On and Off the Big Screen Sigrid Nunez On and Off the Big Screen

Two new films—Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door and Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend—attempt to adapt her work. Do they succeed?

Books & the Arts / Sarah Chihaya

A depiction of Herod the Great.

Zora Neale Hurston’s Lost Roman Epic Zora Neale Hurston’s Lost Roman Epic

In The Life of Herod the Great, we get a novel full of intrigue, betrayal, and revolution.

Books & the Arts / Edna Bonhomme

Film

The Bloody Blues of “Sinners” The Bloody Blues of “Sinners”

Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster horror period piece sets out to reinvent the creature feature—for better and for worse.

Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

Chile in Our Hearts Chile in Our Hearts

John Dinges’s revisionist account of Missing.

Steven Volk

Culture Therapy Culture Therapy

Films to remember for pre-Trumpian times and inspiration.

Michele Willens and Lily Corvo

This President Has Many Puppet Masters This President Has Many Puppet Masters

Trump’s Weekend at Bernie’s White House is inherently chaotic.

Jeet Heer

Television

Bradley Whittford joins the cast of “The West Wing” in Burbank, California, on March 8, 2016.

Culture Therapy Culture Therapy

Films to remember for pre-Trumpian times and inspiration.

Michele Willens and Lily Corvo

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer holds a roundtable meeting on adolescent safety with creators of the television show Adolescence, and Sarah Simpkin from the Children's Society on March 31, 2025, in London, United Kingdom.

The Creator of “Adolescence” Backs a Social Media Ban for Kids—but It’s the Wrong Move The Creator of “Adolescence” Backs a Social Media Ban for Kids—but It’s the Wrong Move

Although the dangers young people face online are all too clear, the solution is pragmatism, not prohibition.

Katrina vanden Heuvel

We Must Save Public Media to Change It

We Must Save Public Media to Change It We Must Save Public Media to Change It

We need public media more than ever—it’s too precious to let Trump defund it. But to live up to its democratic promise, we must support public media to serve our needs.

Victor Pickard

Architecture

The future president in Trump Tower circa 1987.

Real Estate Is the Key to Trump’s Worldview Real Estate Is the Key to Trump’s Worldview

His policies and behavior may often baffle, but he is a developer at heart.

Kate Wagner

A restaurant on Atlanta’s BeltLine trail.

How Atlanta Became a Walkable City How Atlanta Became a Walkable City

The Beltline and Georgia’s experiment in pedestrian spaces.

Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

Parts of LA  Are Not Going to Be Habitable

Parts of LA Are Not Going to Be Habitable Parts of LA Are Not Going to Be Habitable

Insurers have figured out that risk is too high in parts of California. We need to re-conceive how people are housed, and fast.

Column / Kate Wagner

Music

MAGA Followers Think They’re Punk Rock—but Then Why Are They All Such Cowards? MAGA Followers Think They’re Punk Rock—but Then Why Are They All Such Cowards?

Trump supporters may think they’re hardcore, but they seem to be afraid of op-eds, books, and history they can’t even bear to read.

Dave Zirin

In Fred Moten’s Music, Theory Is Put Into Practice In Fred Moten’s Music, Theory Is Put Into Practice

In the poet’s recent musical projects, he has pushed the sonic potential of verse to its limits.

Books & the Arts / Nate Wooley

Trump Took Over the Kennedy Center, but Silencing the Arts Will Not Be So Easy Trump Took Over the Kennedy Center, but Silencing the Arts Will Not Be So Easy

Our last best hope for sharing, shaping, and wrangling over independent ideas may turn out to be America’s scrappy and disparate arts spaces—if they can hang on financially.

Alisa Solomon

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Voice From the Past Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Voice From the Past

The Pakistani qawwali icon sang words written centuries ago and died decades ago. He’s got a new album out.

Feature / Hasan Ali

Publishing

Trump Took Over the Kennedy Center, but Silencing the Arts Will Not Be So Easy

Trump Took Over the Kennedy Center, but Silencing the Arts Will Not Be So Easy Trump Took Over the Kennedy Center, but Silencing the Arts Will Not Be So Easy

Our last best hope for sharing, shaping, and wrangling over independent ideas may turn out to be America’s scrappy and disparate arts spaces—if they can hang on financially.

Alisa Solomon

Barry Malzberg at ReaderCon in 2010.

Novelist on a Deadline: Barry Malzberg, 1939–2024 Novelist on a Deadline: Barry Malzberg, 1939–2024

A speed demon at the typewriter, Malzberg wrote quickly and brilliantly in a variety of genres including mystery, thrillers, and erotica, but his core work was in science fiction….

Obituary / Jeet Heer

Storming the Winter Palace on October 25, 1917.

The Impossible Story of Communism The Impossible Story of Communism

How do you tell the history of a global movement in all its hope and contradiction?

Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

Latest in Culture

The Phoenix Police Department honor guard is the first department to stand watch during the “Standing Watch for the Fallen” flag ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial May 14, 2014, in Washington, DC.

The Jim Crow Origins of National Police Week The Jim Crow Origins of National Police Week

Police brutality and corruption are painful realities. So are officers who die honorably performing their duty. But the memorial in Washington fails to distinguish between them.

May 9, 2025 / Elizabeth Robeson

Caspar David Friedrich, “Woman Before the Rising or Setting Sun,” ca. 1818–24.

The Wandering Souls of Caspar David Friedrich The Wandering Souls of Caspar David Friedrich

The German artist’s landscape paintings tried to capture the sublimity of a world that has vanished.

May 5, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Quinn Moreland

David Cronenberg, Transformed

David Cronenberg, Transformed David Cronenberg, Transformed

Two works—a new film, The Shrouds, and a career-spanning monograph by the film critic Violet Lucca—present a more sanguine image of the master of body horror.

Apr 17, 2025 / Books & the Arts / John Semley

9 Ways You Can Save the Internet Right Now

9 Ways You Can Save the Internet Right Now 9 Ways You Can Save the Internet Right Now

Because the danger to cultural preservation has never been greater.

Apr 11, 2025 / Maria Bustillos

A film still of Mahmoud Khalil from the documentary “The Encampments,” directed by Michael T. Workman and Key Pritsker.

Palestine Reveals the Empty Promises of US Democracy Palestine Reveals the Empty Promises of US Democracy

Kei Pritsker, a codirector of “The Encampments,” a documentary film that follows the pro-Palestine movement at Columbia, says the student protesters will be remembered as heroes.

Apr 8, 2025 / Q&A / Alyssa Oursler

“Snow White” costars Gal Gadot (L) and Rachel Zegler flank DIsney studio head Marc E. Platt at the film’s global premier.

How “Snow White” Got Caught Up in Hollywood’s Culture Wars How “Snow White” Got Caught Up in Hollywood’s Culture Wars

Disney’s box-office bomb has spawned a series of Gaza-and-Trump-themed recriminations.

Apr 8, 2025 / Ben Schwartz

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