Books and Ideas

Trump media microphones

We Can’t Afford to Let the Fourth Estate Topple We Can’t Afford to Let the Fourth Estate Topple

For all the deserved criticism of the American media, it remains one of the strongest pillars propping up what’s left of democracy in a time that’s been anything but good for the ...

May 21, 2025 / Nan Levinson

The Ugly History of the Law Used to Target Mahmoud Khalil

The Ugly History of the Law Used to Target Mahmoud Khalil The Ugly History of the Law Used to Target Mahmoud Khalil

From the moment the McCarran-Walter Act was passed in 1952, The Nation has sounded the alarm about the danger it posed to politically active immigrants.

May 21, 2025 / Richard Kreitner

A view of Athens, Greece (circa 1900).

What Was the Polis? What Was the Polis?

For the Greeks, the idea was a fluid one—a literal place and a civic ideal that allowed for democracy to flourish.

May 21, 2025 / Books & the Arts / FT

The Return of the Nuclear Threat

The Return of the Nuclear Threat The Return of the Nuclear Threat

While most of the world looked away, a new nuclear arms race has broken out between the US, Russia, and China, raising the risk of nuclear confrontation to the highest in decades....

May 19, 2025 / Feature / Jimmy Tobias

Altadena, California, after the January 2025 fires.

How Should Los Angeles Rebuild After the Fires? How Should Los Angeles Rebuild After the Fires?

In the aftermath of this year's catastrophic fires, architects and urban planners begin to consider how to rebuild.

May 19, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

Elizabeth Pochoda at the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair preview, 2017.

The Formidable Intellect and Comprehensive Passions of Elizabeth Pochoda (1941–2025) The Formidable Intellect and Comprehensive Passions of Elizabeth Pochoda (1941–2025)

The former literary editor of The Nation brought her curiosity, wit, and singular editorial instincts to nearly every corner of New York media.

May 19, 2025 / Obituary / Gene Seymour

Reaping what they sowed: Biden and Harris at Trump’s inauguration.

The Biden Scandal Goes Well Beyond the Aging Cover-Up The Biden Scandal Goes Well Beyond the Aging Cover-Up

The former president’s stubbornness and narcissism led to disastrous Trump victory.

May 16, 2025 / Jeet Heer

David Horowitz spoke on the CU Boulder campus on February 14, 2005, about what's wrong with academic thought in US universities today.

I Thought David Horowitz Was a Joke—but He Foreshadowed the Trump Coalition I Thought David Horowitz Was a Joke—but He Foreshadowed the Trump Coalition

As an undergrad, I mocked the radical leftist turned reactionary. But with his cruel, vindictive politics taking over the government, he had the last laugh.

May 15, 2025 / David Klion

Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves

Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves Katie Kitamura’s Divided Selves

Her fiction are studies of fragmentation and ambivalence.

May 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Lovia Gyarkye

Is Criticism Really in Crisis?

Is Criticism Really in Crisis? Is Criticism Really in Crisis?

Andrea Long Chu and the politics of critical life.

May 14, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Kevin Lozano

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