Books and Ideas

Unhappy Birthday: NATO Is 75 Years Old Today

Unhappy Birthday: NATO Is 75 Years Old Today Unhappy Birthday: NATO Is 75 Years Old Today

The Cold War alliance long ago outlived its usefulness. But then Nation contributors have been skeptical since the beginning.

Apr 4, 2024 / Comment / Richard Kreitner

The Mexican Conquest: A Story Told in the Conditional Tense

The Mexican Conquest: A Story Told in the Conditional Tense The Mexican Conquest: A Story Told in the Conditional Tense

Restaging the meeting between Moctezuma and Hernán Cortés, Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires explores how little we still know about this moment in history.

Apr 4, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lucas Iberico Lozada

NSA headquarters in Washington, D.C., 2006.

Lurking in the Shadows of the Deep State Lurking in the Shadows of the Deep State

A conversation with the journalist Kerry Howley about her reporting on whistleblowers, drone warfare, and an upcoming film adaptation of her writing on NSA leaker Reality Winner. ...

Apr 3, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Rhoda Feng

The TikTok social media platform's logo is reflected in the eye of a 13-year-old boy as he looks at a computer screen in Bath, England.

“In Techno Parentis”: Who Should Regulate the Online Lives of Teenagers? “In Techno Parentis”: Who Should Regulate the Online Lives of Teenagers?

With TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms using algorithms to send teen viewers addictive, dangerous content—and reaping immense profits—self-regulation has clearly failed.

Apr 2, 2024 / Zephyr Teachout

Olga Ravn’s Novel of Parenting and Its Discontents

Olga Ravn’s Novel of Parenting and Its Discontents Olga Ravn’s Novel of Parenting and Its Discontents

In My Work, the novelist examines the trials and tribulations of being a mother.

Apr 2, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jess Cotton

Nation Poetry

To Little Black Girls, Risking FlowerA Double Golden Shovel To Little Black Girls, Risking Flower"A Double Golden Shovel"

Mar 29, 2024 / no-paywall / Patricia Smith

A man fights a losing battle with insomnia by counting sheep, 1940.

A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless” A Dispatch From the Land of the “Sleepless”

A French writer’s memoir of her insomnia tries to understand how central sleep is to cultural and intellectual history.

Mar 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alyse Burnside

Nation Poetry

Remembering a honeymoon hike near Drakes Bay, California, while I cook our dinner at the feet of Colorado's Front Range Remembering a honeymoon hike near Drakes Bay, California, while I cook our dinner at the feet of Colorado's Front Range

Mar 27, 2024 / no-paywall / Camille T. Dungy

The Many Faces of Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Many Faces of Viet Thanh Nguyen The Many Faces of Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Vietnamese American writer’s leap to the mainstream comes at a moment that demands his anti-colonialist perspective.

Mar 25, 2024 / Feature / Mari Uyehara

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