Culture

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas.

We Defeated McCarthyism Before. We Can Do It Again. We Defeated McCarthyism Before. We Can Do It Again.

It’s easy to feel despair about what looks like a new age of government censorship. But being around for 160 years gives you perspective.

Oct 13, 2025 / Katrina vanden Heuvel, John Nichols for The Nation

The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism

The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism The Triumphs and Travails of American Marxism

Karl Marx never visited the United States, but he and his ideas left an imprint nonetheless.

Oct 13, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Robin Blackburn

Bot-Eat-Bot-World

Bot-Eat-Bot-World Bot-Eat-Bot-World

Artificial indigestion.

Oct 8, 2025 / OppArt / Brian Stauffer

Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary

Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary Thomas Mallon’s Theory of the Diary

The New York writer and editor’s diaries of the AIDS era presents a curious case of what we are supposed to expect from private documents that become historical sources.

Oct 7, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Sheila McClear

Toni Morrison, 1977.

“To Free Someone Else”: Toni Morrison the Book Editor “To Free Someone Else”: Toni Morrison the Book Editor

A recent book on her career in publishing makes the case that the great American novelist should also be seen as a pathbreaking editor.

Oct 6, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Marina Magloire

To many Middle-earth politicos, Sauron’s victory once seemed inevitable.

Trump, Like Sauron, Is Not Inevitable—but Only if We Refuse Despair Trump, Like Sauron, Is Not Inevitable—but Only if We Refuse Despair

J.R.R. Tolkien has a message for us: Don’t give in to Trump.

Oct 3, 2025 / Aaron Regunberg

Comedian Bill Burr, recently domesticated by a Saudi regime he says is “just like us.”

The Sad Spectacle of American Comedians Selling Out in Saudi Arabia The Sad Spectacle of American Comedians Selling Out in Saudi Arabia

It turns out that edgy free-speech warriors will scuttle their principles for a check from a brutal autocratic regime.

Oct 2, 2025 / Ben Schwartz

Graffiti reading “Gaza” in Berlin’s diverse Neukölln neighborhood.

How Germany Silenced Its Artists to Support Israel How Germany Silenced Its Artists to Support Israel

As Israel intensified its genocide in Gaza, Germany ramped up its long-simmering war on dissent, silencing Palestine solidarity while bolstering its own far right.

Sep 30, 2025 / Feature / Nikki Columbus

Tezer Özlü—the Rebel of Turkish Letters

Tezer Özlü—the Rebel of Turkish Letters Tezer Özlü—the Rebel of Turkish Letters

Journey to the Edge of Life, a striking composite of memoir, biography, and criticism, dwells on the connection between art and death.

Sep 30, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Kaya Genç

Trump stands in the Oval Office in front of US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

The Trump Regime Intensifies Its War on Activism—but Dissent Is Always Possible The Trump Regime Intensifies Its War on Activism—but Dissent Is Always Possible

The president is presiding over suppression unseen in the US for decades.

Sep 29, 2025 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

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