Books and Ideas

A Wise Unknowingness A Wise Unknowingness

"There is such a thing as a moral atmosphere." So said Violet Gibson, the woman who shot Mussolini.

Mar 18, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Brenda Wineapple

The Great White Whale in San Francisco Bay The Great White Whale in San Francisco Bay

How the "Lively Arts" became "The Media."

Mar 16, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Lewis Lapham

A Body on the Gears A Body on the Gears

At Berkeley in 1964, Mario Savio embodied the need to speak and act in the face of doubt.

Mar 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Scott Saul

Dimensions of the Abyss Dimensions of the Abyss

The visual art of the Black Atlantic explores an ambivalence that exceeds double consciousness.

Mar 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Future Governor Races in New York; A Voter Speaks Future Governor Races in New York; A Voter Speaks

Grading on the curve.

Mar 10, 2010 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Remember 11/4/08? Remember 11/4/08?

 A new participatory documentary captures the excitement of Obama's election.

Mar 10, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Ari Berman

Heroic Impatience Heroic Impatience

The past was one single catastrophe to the Baader-Meinhof Gang, and acts of violence the only perceived exit.

Mar 4, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Diego Gambetta

The Legislative Agenda of Congressional Republicans The Legislative Agenda of Congressional Republicans

Harking back to the Reagan years.

Mar 3, 2010 / Column / Calvin Trillin

In Disobedient Rooms

In Disobedient Rooms In Disobedient Rooms

Pre-emptive evolution, the voices of time, infodumps: the science fiction of J.G. Ballard offers not prescience but present-sense.

Feb 25, 2010 / Books & the Arts / China MiƩville

Dancing to the New Music Dancing to the New Music

What will become of the poem and the novel in this new century of rapid transformation?

Feb 25, 2010 / Books & the Arts / E. Ethelbert Miller

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