Books and Ideas

Anti-War Protesters in Congress

What Can Today’s Peace Movement Learn From Vietnam? What Can Today’s Peace Movement Learn From Vietnam?

The best way to protect American lives is to refuse to take sides in someone else’s civil war.

Feb 2, 2016 / Ira Chernus

Why I’m Ready for More Slavery Films

Why I’m Ready for More Slavery Films Why I’m Ready for More Slavery Films

As politicians and pundits dismiss slavery as ancient history, we need more movies forcing us to confront its reality.

Jan 29, 2016 / Mychal Denzel Smith

The Koch Brothers Have Radically Changed American Politics

The Koch Brothers Have Radically Changed American Politics The Koch Brothers Have Radically Changed American Politics

A new book exposes the hidden campaign to mainstream their libertarian agenda.

Jan 28, 2016 / Column / Eric Alterman

An anonymous painting from the 15th century of St. William of Norwich (detail).

The Origins of Blood Libel The Origins of Blood Libel

E.M. Rose reconsiders where the anti-Semitic slur came from, and how it stuck around.

Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Madeleine Schwartz

J.M. Coetzee.

J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life J.M. Coetzee’s Facts of Life

For the South African author, the selves we write and read may be truer than any other.

Jan 28, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

Reeves riot

The For-Profit Sadism of ‘Incarceration, Inc.’ The For-Profit Sadism of ‘Incarceration, Inc.’

An article in The Nation thirty years ago was an early warning about the growth of the prison-industrial complex.

Jan 28, 2016 / Richard Kreitner

From The Arab of the Future, volume 1, by Riad Sattouf.

The Future of the Arab The Future of the Arab

Riad Sattouf’s biting graphic memoir ignores the big picture of politics in the Middle East and focuses instead on daily life and the imposition of authority through violence.

Jan 27, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Ursula Lindsey

The Selden map.

Before Europe’s Intrusion Before Europe’s Intrusion

A 17th-century map reinforces what few other than historians of China have known: It was an open and diverse world with a long tradition of maritime commerce.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen

Antonin Scalia.

What’s the Point of a Supreme Court Dissent? What’s the Point of a Supreme Court Dissent?

A recent book shows that, before Antonin Scalia, dissents were valuable to the Court. Now they may be endangering the institution.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Michael O’Donnell

Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie Misses the Magic Rushdie Misses the Magic

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights has all the markers of a Salman Rushdie novel, but it’s not a great book.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier

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