Books and Ideas

James Schuyler in New York City, 1988.

The Miracles of James Schuyler The Miracles of James Schuyler

Nathan Kernan’s biography of the New York School poet tracks the development of his serene and joyful work alongside the chaos of his life.

Jul 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Evan Kindley

Jürgen Habermas in Berlin, Germany, 2018.

Jürgen Habermas Still Believes in Modernity Jürgen Habermas Still Believes in Modernity

A conversation with the German theorist about the history of Western philosophy and more.

Jul 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Fourth of July reenactors march through Massachusetts

Fake Patriots Are Destroying Everything That Made America Great Fake Patriots Are Destroying Everything That Made America Great

By attacking equality of citizenship, MAGA is smashing the foundations of national pride.

Jul 4, 2025 / Jeet Heer

Joan Didion, 2007.

Joan Didion Undone Joan Didion Undone

Notes to John, posthumously published journal entries chronicling Didion’s therapy sessions, is a peek into the myths and fears that animated her writing life.

Jul 2, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Emma Hager

Peter Thiel speaks at a lectern, holding microphone in front of audience at The Cambridge Union.

The Billionaires Are Abandoning Humanity The Billionaires Are Abandoning Humanity

Peter Thiel and his friends feel they no longer belong to our species.

Jun 30, 2025 / Jeet Heer

“Washington Post” publisher Katharine Graham and executive editor Ben Bradlee leave US District Court in Washington on June 21, 1971, happy with Judge Gerhard A. Gesell's ruling the the paper could publish further articles about a Pentagon report on Vietnam. Later however, the US Court of Appeals extended for one more day a ban against publishing the secret documents.

My Grandmother Stood Up to Nixon—Jeff Bezos Should Take Note  My Grandmother Stood Up to Nixon—Jeff Bezos Should Take Note 

Fifty-four years ago, Katharine Graham defended The Washington Post against presidential threats. Her granddaughter now fears its soul is being sold.

Jun 26, 2025 / Pamela Alma Weymouth

Left: Ford to City: Drop Dead reads front page of the New York “Daily News” for October 30, 1975. Right: Felix Rohatyn seated in front of a microphone.

The Death and Rebirth of New York City The Death and Rebirth of New York City

A new documentary about the 1975 fiscal crisis, Drop Dead City, is entertaining to watch but dangerously misleading as history—or politics.

Jun 24, 2025 / Doug Henwood

Exterior of The Bitter End coffee house, a venue specializing in live acoustic folk music, Greenwich Village, New York City, 1960s.

J. Hoberman’s Lost New York J. Hoberman’s Lost New York

In Everything Is Now, the veteran film critic looks back at the downtown art scene of the 1960s.

Jun 24, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Andrew Marzoni

Excerpted from the book “Spent,” provided courtesy of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2025 by Alison Bechdel. Reprinted by permission.

Alison Bechdel’s Next Step Alison Bechdel’s Next Step

In Spent, the graphic novelist confronts aging, politics, sex, and what it means to succeed under capitalism.

Jun 23, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Jillian Steinhauer

One time never-Trumper Bill Kristol—pictured here at a panel on

Those Sometimes-Trump Neocons Are Returning to the Fold Over Iran Those Sometimes-Trump Neocons Are Returning to the Fold Over Iran

As the president backs Israel’s long-awaited war with Iran, his neoconservative critics find themselves in an awkward position.

Jun 20, 2025 / Column / David Klion

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