Books and Ideas

A Tale of Two Zionisms: On Peter Beinart A Tale of Two Zionisms: On Peter Beinart

Why Israel’s purposes cannot be grasped only through the American Jewish experience.

Sep 26, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Bernard Avishai

How American Democracy Became Commercial Property How American Democracy Became Commercial Property

Election politics today are little more than advertising. But it wasn't always that way. 

Sep 20, 2012 / Lewis Lapham

Brooklyn Book Festival, 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival, 2012

This Sunday's Brooklyn Book Festival is one of the country's most celebrated celebrations of books, reading and independent publishing.

Sep 19, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Peter Rothberg

A Rallying Cry From the Romney Camp A Rallying Cry From the Romney Camp

“Amid Discord, Romney Seeks to Sharpen Message on His Agenda”                  —The New York Times   We’ve got to go now hell for leather. We’ve got to get our act together, ’Cause even right-wing pundits say That this campaign’s in disarray. With our endeavor such a mess We find it difficult to press Our message that this country needs A man who’s proven by his deeds That he can turn a firm around, That he is someone who’s renowned For skills in management writ large. But wait: that’s who we’ve got in charge.

Sep 19, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Unconquered Flame: On Robert Duncan

The Unconquered Flame: On Robert Duncan The Unconquered Flame: On Robert Duncan

A new biography shows how the poet Robert Duncan fed a line backward into the labyrinthine history of human imagination.

Sep 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko

Shelf Life Shelf Life

Maureen F. McHugh's After the Apocalypse; Joshua Cohen's Four New Messages

Sep 18, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier

The Generalist: On Charles de Gaulle

The Generalist: On Charles de Gaulle The Generalist: On Charles de Gaulle

How Charles de Gaulle’s story became a collective fairy tale that the French have agreed to believe in.

Sep 12, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney

Convention Bounce Convention Bounce

From Charlotte, Obama had hoped for a bounce. It came in a way unforeseen: When William J. Clinton had spoken his piece, He’d furnished a strong trampoline.

Sep 12, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Poetry of America’s Best and the Brightest The Poetry of America’s Best and the Brightest

The students at Bunker Hill Community College may have difficult lives. But the best are as bright as any Ivy Leaguer.

Sep 5, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Wick Sloane

What Remains: On the European Union What Remains: On the European Union

How the twentieth century’s confidence in social solidarity, human dignity and a better future died a slow, quiet death.

Sep 5, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Mark Mazower

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