Books and Ideas

Foreign Policy Debate Foreign Policy Debate

Mitt seemed to agree with Obama a lot. Divergence in policy got hard to spot. He used all the moderate words he could muster. So where was the Mittster’s past neocon bluster? He knew that those still undecided would hate it. The answer then is that the Etch A Sketch ate it.

Oct 24, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War

What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War

The realization that markets need government saved capitalism after World War II.

Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Melvyn P. Leffler

What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy

What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy

The wing-nuttery’s gaybaiting is not just a fringe phenomenon—it’s part of an old Republican tradition of macho posturing against Democrats.

Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Neal Gabler

The Master’s Servants: On Henry James

The Master’s Servants: On Henry James The Master’s Servants: On Henry James

Nothing ages faster than the idea of an “ageless” writer. Consider the posthumous career of Henry James.

Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson

John Lennon and George McGovern: Another Side of the 1972 Campaign

John Lennon and George McGovern: Another Side of the 1972 Campaign John Lennon and George McGovern: Another Side of the 1972 Campaign

The McGovern campaign marked a turning point in many lives, including John Lennon’s.

Oct 22, 2012 / Jon Wiener

A Simple Guide to Every Single Republican Tax Proposal A Simple Guide to Every Single Republican Tax Proposal

(As verified by 178 independent studies)   Sure, sometimes they call it supply-side, And sometimes they say job creation Is risked if our entrepreneurs Think profits get snatched by taxation. It comes to the same simple credo Around which the party has danced: If rich people pay less in taxes, Then everyone’s life is enhanced.

Oct 17, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

After the Euphoria: On the Arab Uprisings After the Euphoria: On the Arab Uprisings

What are the new rules of the political game in the Middle East? Nobody knows, but Marc Lynch’s The Arab Uprising is a useful guide.

Oct 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Patrick Cockburn

Uninvisible: On Dorothy B. Hughes Uninvisible: On Dorothy B. Hughes

In The Expendable Man, the story of an innocent under suspicion is given a racial twist.

Oct 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Charles Taylor

The Cuban Missile Crisis and Ownership of the World The Cuban Missile Crisis and Ownership of the World

Though the Cuban Missile Crisis was fifty years ago, imperial America and the threat of nuclear war remains. 

Oct 16, 2012 / Noam Chomsky

Peter Dreier: ‘We Stand On the Shoulders’ of Social Justice Activists Peter Dreier: ‘We Stand On the Shoulders’ of Social Justice Activists

From Barbara Ehrenreich to Paul Wellstone, changemakers fighting for equality are the real American heroes. 

Oct 15, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Press Room

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