Books and Ideas

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

America Doesn’t Have a Gun Problem America Doesn’t Have a Gun Problem

Guns don’t kill people... I guess?

Jul 14, 2021 / Tom Tomorrow

Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism

Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism

But it is only Utopia that allows us to dream together.

Jul 14, 2021 / Feature / Jeet Heer

Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too

Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too

Revisiting her brilliant, irritable, deeply flawed manifesto in the pandemic.

Jul 14, 2021 / Feature / Sophie Lewis

Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties

Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties

In his new collection of short stories, the Booker-Prize nominated novelist explores the desires and discontents of people living in small university towns. 

Jul 13, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson

Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight

Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight

So Kim Jong Un is looking rather svelte. He’s lost at least four notches on his belt. Has illness or a diet made him trim? Have shortages of food reached even Kim? Not yet. But if…

Jul 13, 2021 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Movement President

The Movement President The Movement President

Did Ronald Reagan help launch a movement—or did a set of movements help launch him? 

Jul 12, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney

The End of the Veiled Prophet

The End of the Veiled Prophet The End of the Veiled Prophet

After over a century, the unelected mascot of St. Louis is finally losing its place in public life.

Jul 9, 2021 / Devin Thomas O’Shea

‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant

‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant ‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant

Four writers on the legacy of Berlant’s thinking both in the academy and in public life.

Jul 8, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Judith Butler, Maggie Doherty, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, and Gabriel Winant

US BORDER wall

The Ideology of the Border The Ideology of the Border

Brendan O'Connor’s Blood Red Lines examines how disparate right-wing groups organized around a shared world view he calls “border fascism.”

Jul 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Felipe de la Hoz

Viet Thanh Nguyen

‘We Have to Make Our Nation Confront What It Doesn’t Want to Remember’ ‘We Have to Make Our Nation Confront What It Doesn’t Want to Remember’

A conversation with Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Jun 30, 2021 / Q&A / Katrina vanden Heuvel

x