Cultural Criticism and Analysis

Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle

Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle Peter Schjeldahl’s Pleasure Principle

His art criticism fixated on the narcissism of the entire enterprise. But over six decades, his work proved that a critic could be an artist too.

Dec 9, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Zachary Fine

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

What happened to the French novelist?

Nov 25, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Cole Stangler

Sundays With Noel

Sundays With Noel Sundays With Noel

Noel Parmentel was, according to his former lover and mentee, Joan Didion, the ‘outsider who lived by his ability to manipulate the inside.’

Nov 22, 2024 / Obituary / Richard Lingeman

Who’s the daddy? Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Tucker Carlson’s Weird Spanking Fantasy Is Designed to Stir Up MAGA Misogyny Tucker Carlson’s Weird Spanking Fantasy Is Designed to Stir Up MAGA Misogyny

By extolling Trump as “Daddy” meting out corporal punishment, the disgraced TV host is pitching authoritarian patriarchy.

Oct 25, 2024 / Jeet Heer

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks to supporters during a campaign event in Traverse City, Michigan.

JD Vance Shows That the Future of the GOP Is in Racist Conspiracy Theories JD Vance Shows That the Future of the GOP Is in Racist Conspiracy Theories

Trump’s deluded fantasies have now become the GOP gospel.

Oct 18, 2024 / Jeet Heer

A close-up photo of Fredric Jameson smiling in front of a microphone.

Fredric Jameson Named the System We Are Still Fighting Fredric Jameson Named the System We Are Still Fighting

The late literary critic revitalized Marxism to critique our postmodern and globalized reality.

Oct 3, 2024 / Obituary / Jeet Heer

Bosses Want Us to Work in Our Sleep Now—Literally

Bosses Want Us to Work in Our Sleep Now—Literally Bosses Want Us to Work in Our Sleep Now—Literally

Molly McGhee’s satirical 2023 novel Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind may be coming true.

Sep 19, 2024 / Sophie Lewis

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, enjoy music by members of the marching band at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, August 28, 2024, as they travel across the state on a two-day campaign bus tour.

The Democrats Are Finally Running a Teacher. What Took Them So Long? The Democrats Are Finally Running a Teacher. What Took Them So Long?

After decades of serving as a punching bag for the party’s neoliberals, public schools and the people who work in them are back in fashion.

Sep 3, 2024 / Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider

Two women stand in uniform with their hands behind their back.

Why We Should Honor the Chicano Moratorium Against the War Why We Should Honor the Chicano Moratorium Against the War

On this date 54 years ago, the largest ethnically focussed action in the movement against the Vietnam War took place—offering an important example of the power of a people united....

Aug 29, 2024 / Bill Gallegos

The Genius of Garth Greenwell

The Genius of Garth Greenwell The Genius of Garth Greenwell

Set abroad or at home, in unfamiliar worlds an ocean away or in an intensive care unit in Iowa, Greenwell's novels are songs of the self and of the United States as a whole.

Aug 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Hannah Gold

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