John Edgar Wideman’s American Vernacular John Edgar Wideman’s American Vernacular
The master novelist offers a view of a United States defined by its cultures of improvisation.
Aug 11, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Walton Muyumba
What Happened to the American University? What Happened to the American University?
Once the envy of the world, higher education in the United States is now in a state of endless crisis.
Aug 10, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Bessner
Do Epics Need Heroes? Do Epics Need Heroes?
In recent years, the online right has contested adaptations of epic in order to make an argument about masculinity. The Odyssey is their latest target.
Aug 8, 2026 / Orlando Reade
Texas’s DNA Doesn’t Run As Red as the Right Wants You to Think Texas’s DNA Doesn’t Run As Red as the Right Wants You to Think
David Griscom’s new book “The Myth of Red Texas” undoes the idea of Texas as a place with conservatism inherent to its political bloodline.
Aug 7, 2026 / StudentNation / Lajward Zahra
Daniel Poppick’s Novel of White-Collar Work Daniel Poppick’s Novel of White-Collar Work
The first novel by the poet asks us what fantasies get us through the day.
Aug 6, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Julia Case-Levine
Liberals Are Shaming Howard Zinn’s Memory Yet Again Liberals Are Shaming Howard Zinn’s Memory Yet Again
Zinn saw firsthand what happened when liberals did more to fight the left than the right—they sabotaged their own power.
Aug 4, 2026 / Dave Zirin
Our Court Jesters Are Disappearing Just When We Need Them Most Our Court Jesters Are Disappearing Just When We Need Them Most
In this authoritarian moment, we need defiant comedy more than ever.
Aug 3, 2026 / Kali Holloway
How Franco Ruled Spain How Franco Ruled Spain
Two new books examine these dark decades in Spanish history.
Jul 30, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Sebastiaan Faber and Bécquer Seguín
A Rave Novel Rediscovered A Rave Novel Rediscovered
Ann Scott’s “Superstars” captures the last gasp of pre-Internet counterculture.
Jul 28, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl
Impale and Cry: Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” Impale and Cry: Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey”
In the latest rendering of the epic, there is plenty to feel guilty about even if you did not mean it.
Jul 24, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Christian Lorentzen