Books and Ideas

An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished. The demolition is part of President Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom on the eastern side of the White House.

The New Ballroom The New Ballroom

Nov 11, 2025 / Column / Calvin Trillin

An engraving depicting a sansculottes offering a Phrygian cap to King Louis XVI.

The Invention of the Modern Self The Invention of the Modern Self

How did the idea of the individual come into being?

Nov 10, 2025 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith: "I Say What I See" Zadie Smith: "I Say What I See"

A conversation with the acclaimed author about her new essay collection, Dead and Alive.

Nov 7, 2025 / Q&A / Edna Bonhomme

A grocery store in Dorchester, Massachusetts, warns customers that SNAP benefits have been suspended.

A Brief History of Right-Wing Attacks on Food Stamps A Brief History of Right-Wing Attacks on Food Stamps

A trip through The Nation’s archives offers essential insights into why Republicans have long tried to weaken SNAP—and why they’re trying to kill it now.

Nov 6, 2025 / Richard Kreitner

Arundhati Roy, 2002.

The Making of Arundhati Roy The Making of Arundhati Roy

In Mother Mary Comes to Me, the icon of Indian letters revisits the time that forged her as a writer.

Nov 6, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Mahanta

Jesse Jackson speaking into a microphone in 1989.

How Jesse Jackson Transformed American Politics How Jesse Jackson Transformed American Politics

In the face of Reagan’s right-wing presidency, he offered a vision, strategy, and agenda that would have led Democrats and the country in a very different direction.

Nov 5, 2025 / Robert L. Borosage

Yoko Ono, 1967.

Why Is Yoko Ono Still Misunderstood? Why Is Yoko Ono Still Misunderstood?

A recent biography helps shed light on her life before and after John Lennon—making a case for the primacy of her art and its lasting influence.

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

Nighttime view of people in a vacant lot as they watch a fire burning on the top floors of an apartment building in the Bronx, New York, 1983.

The Uncertain History of the Bronx Fires The Uncertain History of the Bronx Fires

In Born in Flames, Bench Ansfield asks, who, or what, is responsible for the arson epidemic that afflicted the borough in the 1970s and ’80s?

Nov 4, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Zipp

United States Capitol, Washington DC, late 19th century. Albumen print, stereocard.

Is It Too Late to Remake American Democracy? Is It Too Late to Remake American Democracy?

A conversation with Osita Nwanevu about the fatal flaws of our governing system, the need for a more egalitarian political economy, and his new book The Right of the People.

Nov 3, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Director Woody Allen leaves Manhattan surrogate court in a car, New York, June 10, 1993, following a second day of hearings on efforts by ex-lover Mia Farrow to undo his adoption of children.

Woody Allen’s New York—and Mine Woody Allen’s New York—and Mine

The director’s vision of New York City once seemed aspirational, but his endorsement of Andrew Cuomo suggests he may not understand the city beyond its fiction.

Nov 1, 2025 / Stephanie Wambugu

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