Books and Ideas

Werner Herzog, 1991.

Werner Herzog’s Maniacal Quests Werner Herzog’s Maniacal Quests

A newly published travel journal shows how walking, like filmmaking, brings us to the naked core of existence.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg

‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’

‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’ ‘Gifts of Thought to Europe From an Intimate Stranger’

A brilliant exhibit in London uses archival fragments to tell a story of violence and creation.

Jan 7, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Yasmine Seale

The Genocidal Unconscious of American Sports’ Naming Practices

The Genocidal Unconscious of American Sports’ Naming Practices The Genocidal Unconscious of American Sports’ Naming Practices

The Texas Rangers bear the moniker of America’s most celebrated death squad.

Jan 4, 2016 / Greg Grandin

December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born

December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born December 29, 1922: William Gaddis Is Born

“What [The Recognitions] lacks, like all claustrophobic works of art, is imagination.”

Dec 29, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published

December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published December 28, 1973: Alexsander Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Gulag Archipelago’ is Published

“The duty is not only to memorialize the fallen, it is also to confront the living.”

Dec 28, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Donald Trump speaks before a crowd of supporters.

The Dickensian Politics of Trump and His Fellow Scrooges The Dickensian Politics of Trump and His Fellow Scrooges

Political misers still refuse to make it their business to improve the lot of the working poor.

Dec 24, 2015 / John Nichols

Shahab Ahmed.

How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time? How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time?

A new book by the late scholar Shahab Ahmed reveals the capaciousness, complexity, and contradictions of Islam.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Elias Muhanna

Joseph LeDoux.

Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom? Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom?

The neuroscience of fear is incomplete without an account of philosophy and politics.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Simon Wolfe Taylor

Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists

Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists Dreamers, Drifters, Mopers, and Defeatists

Adrian Tomine’s universe features a society of contingent values, ill-defined expectations, and diminishing options.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

This Modern World

This Modern World This Modern World

ignore this…

Dec 23, 2015 / Tom Tomorrow

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