The Invention of Close Reading The Invention of Close Reading
By transforming quotations into evidence, close reading served as way to turn postwar criticism into a specialized knowledge. But what if we treated it more as an art form?
May 12, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Dan Sinykin
Will the New Pope Ever Forgive JD Vance? Will the New Pope Ever Forgive JD Vance?
Leo XIV’s commitment to migrants and the poor will put him at odds with MAGA.
May 9, 2025 / Jeet Heer
The Jim Crow Origins of National Police Week The Jim Crow Origins of National Police Week
Police brutality and corruption are painful realities. So are officers who die honorably performing their duty. But the memorial in Washington fails to distinguish between them.
May 9, 2025 / Elizabeth Robeson
The Culture-War Furies Behind Trump’s Film-Tariff Plan The Culture-War Furies Behind Trump’s Film-Tariff Plan
The president doesn’t have the authority to impose tariffs on movies produced abroad, but he still wants to be the right’s designated culture commissar.
May 7, 2025 / Ben Schwartz
Can Spotify Be Stopped? Can Spotify Be Stopped?
The streaming service has completely changed what it means to make and listen to music. What can be done to reverse its enormous influence?
May 6, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Mitch Therieau
The People Are Resisting While the Elites Are Surrendering The People Are Resisting While the Elites Are Surrendering
The Ivy League is silently complicit in Trump’s war on international students.
Apr 14, 2025 / Jeet Heer
“Blues People” and Black Life: A Conversation With Imani Perry “Blues People” and Black Life: A Conversation With Imani Perry
We spoke with the scholar about Black in Blues, a poetic exploration of the relationship between the color blue and Black people.
Apr 14, 2025 / Q&A / Elias Rodriques
9 Ways You Can Save the Internet Right Now 9 Ways You Can Save the Internet Right Now
Because the danger to cultural preservation has never been greater.
Apr 11, 2025 / Maria Bustillos
Worse Than McCarthyism: Universities in the Age of Trump Worse Than McCarthyism: Universities in the Age of Trump
The target then was the nonexistent threat of Communist teachers; today, it’s the supposed radicalism of the academy and its alleged failure to fight antisemitism.
Apr 3, 2025 / Ellen Schrecker
Trump’s Academic Purge Will Make America Stupid and Provincial Again Trump’s Academic Purge Will Make America Stupid and Provincial Again
The administration’s targeting of international students is a return to a disgraced tradition of xenophobic anti-intellectualism.
Mar 31, 2025 / Jeet Heer