Sentimentality or Honesty? On Charles Taylor Sentimentality or Honesty? On Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor is a sadly endangered type: the philosopher-statesman.
Aug 10, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Mark Oppenheimer
Gary Shteyngart Interview—The Future, With Fox Prime Ultra and the Bipartisan Party: A Super Sad True Love Story Gary Shteyngart Interview—The Future, With Fox Prime Ultra and the Bipartisan Party: A Super Sad True Love Story
A novelist imagines politics in “the near future.”
Jul 18, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener
The Impresario: On Irving Kristol The Impresario: On Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol was wrong about most things. So why was he one of the most politically influential intellectuals of his generation?
May 18, 2011 / Books & the Arts / George Scialabba
Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age Before the Flood: Information Before the Information Age
Ann Blair’s Too Much to Know explains how across the centuries the profusion of information has always inspired readers to invent shortcuts to knowledge.
Apr 13, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen
An Accelerated Grimace: On Cyber-Utopianism An Accelerated Grimace: On Cyber-Utopianism
Clay Shirky's Cognitive Surplus is the latest monotonous revery about the Internet social revolution. Evgeny Morozov punctures that bubble.
Mar 3, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Chris Lehmann
Dan Bell, RIP Dan Bell, RIP
On the late Daniel Bell, the very archetype of a committed liberal intellectual, and The New Republic's Marty Peretz, plus reader mail.
Jan 27, 2011 / Blog / Eric Alterman
The Return of the Culture Wars The Return of the Culture Wars
As before, hypocrites are lining their coffers by pandering to ignorance and xenophobia.
Jan 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Doug Harvey
The Ballad of John and J.D.: On John Lennon and J.D. Salinger The Ballad of John and J.D.: On John Lennon and J.D. Salinger
Mark David Chapman was carrying a copy of The Catcher in the Rye when he shot John Lennon. The murder was a collision of cultures.
Jan 27, 2011 / Books & the Arts / Charles Taylor
Spin Cycle: On Tim Wu and Kevin Kelly Spin Cycle: On Tim Wu and Kevin Kelly
Tim Wu and Kevin Kelly speak for a new technocracy, and their new books epitomize its myopia, libertarianism and frustration with the political system.
Dec 22, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Paul Duguid
America’s Knowledge Deficit America’s Knowledge Deficit
We have increasingly substituted opinion and prejudice for science and reason.
Nov 10, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin R. Barber