Culture

The Age of Public Austerity and Private Luxury The Age of Public Austerity and Private Luxury

A conversation with Melinda Cooper about the recent history of neoliberalism and her new book Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance.

Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Kate Yoon

With Her Rope-a-Dope Strategy, Kamala Harris Baited Trump Into Scaring Swing Voters With Her Rope-a-Dope Strategy, Kamala Harris Baited Trump Into Scaring Swing Voters

Last night’s debate will help give Democrats an edge. But strengthening the base remains crucial.

Jeet Heer

How Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon How Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon

In contemporary publishing, novels fixated on the past rather than the present have garnered the most attention and prestige.

Alexander Manshel

Books

The Genius of Garth Greenwell

The Genius of Garth Greenwell The Genius of Garth Greenwell

Set abroad or at home, in unfamiliar worlds an ocean away or in an intensive care unit in Iowa, Greenwell’s novels are songs of the self and of the United States as a whole.

Hannah Gold

Buffy (Darren Robinson) of the Fat Boys in Chicago, 1985.

Questlove’s Personal History of Hip-Hop Questlove’s Personal History of Hip-Hop

An elegiac retelling of rap’s origins, Hip-Hop Is History also ends with a sense of hope.

Bijan Stephen

Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money

Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money

Having gnawed away at literary and political conventions from within their hallowed forms, Senna has now set her eyes on Hollywood.

Lovia Gyarkye

Film

Move Over Hollywood, Here Comes Chick-fil-A Move Over Hollywood, Here Comes Chick-fil-A

The fast-food giant is poised to move the entertainment world further to the right.

Ben Schwartz

Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money

Having gnawed away at literary and political conventions from within their hallowed forms, Senna has now set her eyes on Hollywood.

Lovia Gyarkye

The Occupied Will Also Write History The Occupied Will Also Write History

Palestinian filmmaker Mohammad Bakri was censored for daring to tell the story of occupation in Jenin, Jenin. Now, he is trying again with a new documentary.

Rania Abouzeid

The Rise of the Influencer Chefs The Rise of the Influencer Chefs

How a new generation of food TV on Tiktok and Instagram is remaking how we relate to cooking and eating.

Books & the Arts / Aaron Timms

Television

Laura Loomer, in large sunglasses, stands in front of a courthouse wearing a shirt that reads

How Donald Trump Got Loomered How Donald Trump Got Loomered

Laura Loomer’s strange journey from Trump stalker to Trump confidant.

Jeet Heer

Former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris are shown on screen in the spin room during the second presidential debate in Philadelphia on September 10, 2024.

With Her Rope-a-Dope Strategy, Kamala Harris Baited Trump Into Scaring Swing Voters With Her Rope-a-Dope Strategy, Kamala Harris Baited Trump Into Scaring Swing Voters

Last night’s debate will help give Democrats an edge. But strengthening the base remains crucial.

Jeet Heer

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is church.jpg A view of destroyed church in the Pokrovsk region, which has become a frontline area following a rocket strike of Russian forces in the Pokrovsk, Ukraine, on September 6, 2024.

Ukrainians Will Also Be Watching Tonight’s Presidential Debate Anxiously Ukrainians Will Also Be Watching Tonight’s Presidential Debate Anxiously

With Republicans divided over the issue of continuing military support for Ukraine, Democrats have had little to say on the issue. But tonight’s confrontation could change that.

Leif Reigstad

Architecture

Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World

Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World Our Buildings Were Built for a Different World

The climate crisis demands that we retrofit them—which won’t happen at scale until architects start seeing themselves as political actors.

Column / Kate Wagner

One of the bridges over the Gowanus Canal.

The Transformation of Gowanus The Transformation of Gowanus

Can a Superfund site be remade into an experiment for equitable housing and eco-friendly development?

Karrie Jacobs

Screenshot of CGI image in proposal titled “From Crisis to Prosperity.”

The Awful Plan to Turn Gaza Into the Next Dubai The Awful Plan to Turn Gaza Into the Next Dubai

The Netanyahu administration seems to have learned from neighboring petrostates that spectacle can distract from ethnic cleansing.

Column / Kate Wagner

Music

The Rolling Stones Haven’t Missed a Beat The Rolling Stones Haven’t Missed a Beat

The world’s greatest rock and roll band is on the road again. This time, they’ve got a new drummer.

Ethan Iverson

Taylor Swift, Poet Taylor Swift, Poet

Country singer, globetrotting pop star, and now melancholic poet—Taylor Swift has offered her listeners almost everything.

Stephanie Burt

Seeing Ourselves in Joni Mitchell Seeing Ourselves in Joni Mitchell

Ann Powers’s deeply personal biography of Joni Mitchell looks at how a generation of listeners came to identify with the folk singer’s intimate songs.

Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

Philip Glass, Solo Artist Philip Glass, Solo Artist

In his most recent album, the composer marks a new turn in his style.

Bijan Stephen

Publishing

Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money

Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money

Having gnawed away at literary and political conventions from within their hallowed forms, Senna has now set her eyes on Hollywood.

Lovia Gyarkye

Lauren Oyler and the Critic in the Internet Age

Lauren Oyler and the Critic in the Internet Age Lauren Oyler and the Critic in the Internet Age

In No Judgment, the novelist and critic explores the perilous activity of literary criticism in the era of social media.

Alana Pockros

President of Argentina with chainsaw

Javier Milei’s Amputation Regime for Argentina Javier Milei’s Amputation Regime for Argentina

The country’s new president has imposed a set of brutal austerity measures as part of a so-called “chainsaw plan.” The carnage is already mounting.

Jacob Sugarman

Latest in Culture

Bouchra Khalili’s “The Mapping Journey Project,” 2008–11.

The Coming of World Art at the Venice Biennale The Coming of World Art at the Venice Biennale

At one of the oldest biennials on the planet, a glimpse of a more global idea of art history is on view. 

Sep 4, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Delegates wearing keffiyehs hold up signs with the names of people who died in the Gaza war on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 20, 2024.

I’m Still Hoping to Vote for Kamala Harris I’m Still Hoping to Vote for Kamala Harris

But the hope I felt when she became the nominee has been curdling into despair over her refusal to allow a Palestinian to address the convention—and her continuing silence on Gaza…

Aug 30, 2024 / Benjamin Moser

Natasha Trethewey’s Life in Poetry and Prose

Natasha Trethewey’s Life in Poetry and Prose Natasha Trethewey’s Life in Poetry and Prose

A work of biography, an essay on literature and memory and the South, a prose poem full of lyrical dexterity, Trethewey’s latest book is like all of her others: a master study of …

Aug 28, 2024 / Edna Bonhomme

Rachel Kushner’s  Brilliant Avant-Garde Spy Thriller

Rachel Kushner’s Brilliant Avant-Garde Spy Thriller Rachel Kushner’s Brilliant Avant-Garde Spy Thriller

In Creation Lake, Kushner transforms the genre’s familiar plot twists and turns into a study of the many fictions we tell one another.

Aug 27, 2024 / Nicolás Medina Mora

Then–US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifying before the Senate Budget Committee in 2009.

The Intractable Puzzle of Growth The Intractable Puzzle of Growth

For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we migh…

Aug 26, 2024 / Benjamin Kunkel

Former US first lady Michelle Obama arrives to speak during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday, August 20, 2024.

Michelle Obama Is a Master of Politics Because She Hates Politics Michelle Obama Is a Master of Politics Because She Hates Politics

The former first lady delivers an emotional barnstormer that reaches beyond ideology.

Aug 21, 2024 / Jeet Heer

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