Books and Ideas

November 24, 1859: Charles Darwin Publishes ‘On the Origin of Species’

November 24, 1859: Charles Darwin Publishes ‘On the Origin of Species’ November 24, 1859: Charles Darwin Publishes ‘On the Origin of Species’

“Mr. Charles Darwin is probably the man who has done most to make the nineteenth century famous, full as it has been of wonders.”

Nov 24, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

‘Bringing History to Bear’

‘Bringing History to Bear’ ‘Bringing History to Bear’

Celebrating 150 years of dialogue and dissent.

Nov 19, 2015 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Using Art to Expose What Government Hides: An Interview With Laurie Anderson

Using Art to Expose What Government Hides: An Interview With Laurie Anderson Using Art to Expose What Government Hides: An Interview With Laurie Anderson

Anderson’s conceptual art transported a former Guantánamo detainee, now banned from the US, to New York City.

Nov 19, 2015 / Q&A / Laura Flanders

Letters Icon

Letters From the December 7, 2015, Issue Letters From the December 7, 2015, Issue

Quantum of science… misreading progress… crack up, fall down…

Nov 19, 2015 / Our Readers and David Rieff

“At certain times of the day,” wrote Karl Kraus, in a critique of the mass media taken up by Walter Benjamin, “a particular quantity of work has to have been procured and prepared for the machine.”

Nothing Remains Unchanged but the Clouds Nothing Remains Unchanged but the Clouds

With his worries about the gigantic power of technology and the minuscule moral illumination it can afford, Walter Benjamin remains our contemporary.

Nov 18, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Neima Jahromi

Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru (left) and Vietminh President Ho Chi Min in Hanoi, October 18, 1954. (AP)

Michael Walzer, Revolutionologist Michael Walzer, Revolutionologist

The political theorist’s new book on national liberation can’t answer one key question: Why have those words become obsolete?

Nov 18, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney

James Merrill (left) and David Jackson at the Ouija board in 1983.

A Poet Who Believed in Nothing As in Love A Poet Who Believed in Nothing As in Love

After first writing poetry to impress and entertain his wealthy parents’ guests, cosmopolitan James Merrill went cosmic.

Nov 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko

November 15, 1959: The Clutter Family Is Murdered in Holcomb, Kansas, Later the Subject of Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’

November 15, 1959: The Clutter Family Is Murdered in Holcomb, Kansas, Later the Subject of Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’ November 15, 1959: The Clutter Family Is Murdered in Holcomb, Kansas, Later the Subject of Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’

“It turns out that what we are really witnessing is a kind of morality play: the conversion of Truman Capote.”

Nov 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Why Does Ta-Nehisi Coates Say Less Than He Knows?

Why Does Ta-Nehisi Coates Say Less Than He Knows? Why Does Ta-Nehisi Coates Say Less Than He Knows?

The journalist’s best-selling memoir offers eloquent testimony to the vulnerability of black life, but it surrenders too much to despair.

Nov 15, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Jesse McCarthy

Trump SNL Protest

Does Larry David Deserve $5,000 for Kinda, Sorta Calling Donald Trump a Racist? Does Larry David Deserve $5,000 for Kinda, Sorta Calling Donald Trump a Racist?

Comedians and activists weigh in on whether David called attention to Trump’s racism or protected SNL from criticism.

Nov 12, 2015 / Katie Halper

x