The Bad Politics of Good Taste The Bad Politics of Good Taste
Nathalie Olah’s exploration of the ethics of tastefulness dissects the class-bounded nature of most social and cultural mores.
Feb 15, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lauren Kelly
Why Billionaires Are Obsessed With the Apocalypse Why Billionaires Are Obsessed With the Apocalypse
In Survival of the Richest, Douglas Rushkoff gets to the bottom of the tech oligarchy’s fixation on protecting themselves from the end times.
Feb 14, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jared Marcel Pollen
Helen Garner’s Alienating Domesticity Helen Garner’s Alienating Domesticity
In her novel The Children’s Bach, the Australian writer conjures a relentless portrait of the comforts and restrictions of family life.
Feb 12, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Isabella Trimboli
The Many Lives of George Eliot The Many Lives of George Eliot
A new biography examines how the novelist chose to make her life, as well as her fiction and art, outside the conventions of the marriage plot.
Feb 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Francesca Wade
In the Streets of Rome With Pier Paolo Pasolini In the Streets of Rome With Pier Paolo Pasolini
His bracing debut novel, Boys Alive, documents the hard and loose lives of vagabonds in the Italian capital’s underbelly.
Feb 7, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jack Hanson
Has Cuba Met the End of History? Has Cuba Met the End of History?
In Cubanthropy, the critic Iván de la Nuez traces how the island nation and its diaspora shoulder the legacy of the revolution.
Feb 6, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Miriam Pensack
The Party of Lincoln Is Really the Party of Calhoun The Party of Lincoln Is Really the Party of Calhoun
Nikki Haley and Greg Abbott echo the theorist of secession.
Feb 2, 2024 / Jeet Heer
Is Derek Penslar the Wrong Kind of Jew for Harvard? Is Derek Penslar the Wrong Kind of Jew for Harvard?
He’s a distinguished scholar, director of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies, and former president of the American Academy for Jewish Research. But Bill Ackman doesn’t like him.
Feb 2, 2024 / Eric Alterman
Juan Rulfo’s Revolution in Mexican Fiction Juan Rulfo’s Revolution in Mexican Fiction
In his 1955 masterpiece Pedro Páramo, he gave the bloody history of his country—between the rich and poor, landed and landless—mythic dimension.
Feb 1, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Ratik Asokan
Should People’s Park Be Consigned to the Ash Heap of History? Should People’s Park Be Consigned to the Ash Heap of History?
Many argue that after five decades of resisting the University of California’s repeated attempts to reclaim the park, it’s time to let go of the past and move on. We disagree.
Jan 31, 2024 / Steve Wasserman, Paul Glusman, Judy Gumbo Albert, and Tom Dalzell