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
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
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
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’
“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?
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
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
Splinterlands: The View From 2050 Splinterlands: The View From 2050
A dystopian fictional tour of the world that awaits us.
Nov 10, 2015 / John Feffer
Standing Up for Migrant Workers in the Gulf, 1 Installation at a Time Standing Up for Migrant Workers in the Gulf, 1 Installation at a Time
For the artists in the activist group Gulf Labor, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi epitomizes the conquest of art by corporate interests.
Nov 9, 2015 / Ursula Lindsey
The Beauty and the Costs of Extreme Altruism The Beauty and the Costs of Extreme Altruism
What if you were so troubled by suffering and inequality that you changed your life entirely?
Nov 5, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn