Books and Ideas

declaration of independence painting by John Trumbull

What Did Equality Mean for the Founders? What Did Equality Mean for the Founders?

Three new books on the early republic explore the critical, if contested, role equality has played in shaping American political culture.

Apr 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Martin Luther King Jr.

‘A Society Gone Mad on War’: The Enduring Importance of Martin Luther King’s Riverside Speech ‘A Society Gone Mad on War’: The Enduring Importance of Martin Luther King’s Riverside Speech

Fifty years ago today, the civil-rights leader described the nightmare to come: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of...

Apr 4, 2017 / Eric Tang

Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2007.

Le Pen’s Long Shadow Le Pen’s Long Shadow

If you want to understand the wave of right-wing populism erupting in Europe and the United States, France is a good place to start.

Apr 4, 2017 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

Bill O’Reilly’s Racist Comment Is Rooted in America’s Racist Past

Bill O’Reilly’s Racist Comment Is Rooted in America’s Racist Past Bill O’Reilly’s Racist Comment Is Rooted in America’s Racist Past

But black women are speaking out and fighting back.

Mar 30, 2017 / Collier Meyerson

Letters Icon

Letters From the April 17, 2017, Issue Letters From the April 17, 2017, Issue

For the public, not profit… Russia’s a touchy subject… Book learning: Hitler and the labor movement…

Mar 30, 2017 / Our Readers

The Red Emigrant

The Red Emigrant The Red Emigrant

For Isaac Deutscher, exile helped him discover his real community—the internationalist left.

Mar 30, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Bruce Robbins

Policing the Colony: From the American Revolution to Ferguson

Policing the Colony: From the American Revolution to Ferguson Policing the Colony: From the American Revolution to Ferguson

King George’s tax collectors abused police powers to fill his coffers. Sound familiar?

Mar 29, 2017 / Feature / Chris Hayes

Ali Smith’s Novel of Disintegration

Ali Smith’s Novel of Disintegration Ali Smith’s Novel of Disintegration

One of Autumn’s recurring themes is our willed blindness to what threatens our sense of order—from climate change to financial and political insecurity. 

Mar 29, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Namara Smith

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

Trump’s Daily Diary Rants Trump’s Daily Diary Rants

Where Trump thinks about things like, why won’t the fake news shut up about Russia? 

Mar 28, 2017 / Tom Tomorrow

Norman Podhoretz

What ‘The New York Times’ Missed in Its Piece about Norman Podhoretz What ‘The New York Times’ Missed in Its Piece about Norman Podhoretz

The profile failed to mention the larger historical context in which the former Commentary editor and his contemporaries operated.

Mar 27, 2017 / Norman Birnbaum

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