Faces out of the Crowd: On the Renaissance Portrait Faces out of the Crowd: On the Renaissance Portrait
How Renaissance painters brought human presence to the fore.
Mar 7, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
The Uprooted The Uprooted
A new history of Europe’s postwar world and its displaced persons.
Mar 7, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Holly Case
I Thought That I Would Never See a Pol Who Loved the Height of Trees I Thought That I Would Never See a Pol Who Loved the Height of Trees
“I love this state. It seems right here. The trees are the right height.” —Mitt Romney, in his home state of Michigan Away from here, I find no trees that please— No trees at such a perfect height as these. For me, I cannot ever be at ease With trees that grow no higher than one’s knees Or too tall trees that splinter in a freeze. Wisconsin, sure, has bragging rights on cheese. And California’s rich in Cantonese. And Colorado’s where to take your skis. Connecticut, of course, has Lyme disease. At none of these am I prepared to sneeze. But here we have the perfect height of trees.
Feb 29, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Duvalier and Haiti’s Triple Threat Duvalier and Haiti’s Triple Threat
Why was Baby Doc able to return after decades of exile and evade justice, despite his crimes?
Feb 29, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Amy Wilentz
Of Deserts and Promised Lands: The Dream of Global Justice Of Deserts and Promised Lands: The Dream of Global Justice
Jenny Martinez and Kathryn Sikkink offer conflicting histories of the ascendency of international courts.
Feb 29, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn
AIDS and Imperialism: Karma and Colonial Crimes AIDS and Imperialism: Karma and Colonial Crimes
A new book shows that the HIV virus was triggered by wanton imperial depredations.
Feb 28, 2012 / Blog / Bob Dreyfuss
We Pick Rick We Pick Rick
(A Santorum campaign song, sung to the tune of “I Like Ike,” by Irving Berlin) We pick Rick. Yes, Rick’s with whom we will stick. He’s the guy All over whom we’re swarming. We pick Rick. Though some imply that he’s thick, He well knows There is no global warming. He’ll say on CNN The sins that we must smother. And he can keep those men From marrying each other. We pick Rick ‘Cause he’ll tell liberals real quick What God says No matter if they’re willing: Abortion’s baby-killing. So we pick Rick.
Feb 15, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
Wislawa Szymborska, 1923–2012 Wislawa Szymborska, 1923–2012
The great Polish poet disclaimed grand political schemes in favor of irony, wit, skepticism and the individual.
Feb 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Katha Pollitt
The Treason of the Senate The Treason of the Senate
A famous indictment from a century ago aptly describes today’s corrupt legislative body.
Feb 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / David Sarasohn
Galileo’s Credo Galileo’s Credo
Two new biographies differ over the astronomer’s view of the relationship between science and faith.
Feb 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen