Culture

Sun Ra

The Story of Sun Ra’s Egyptian Adventure The Story of Sun Ra’s Egyptian Adventure

How a 1971 trip changed the course of the free jazz icon’s career.

Jun 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’ The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

By discarding all the tropes of standard reality TV, this singing competition allows viewers to revel in pure weirdness.

Jun 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

The Return of the Sensible Liberal The Return of the Sensible Liberal

If someone wants you six feet under, meeting in the middle still puts you three feet deep.

Jun 1, 2021 / Tom Tomorrow

Apartheid

Apartheid Apartheid

Lost links.

Jun 1, 2021 / OppArt / André Carrilho

Nation Poetry

Adverbs, Fly Adverbs, Fly

Daddy, you always wake up at that hour. Not in my time zone, but in the deceased’s time zone, at that hour. N Daddy, a new daddy showed up like the way you whisper inside my crying…

Jun 1, 2021 / Poems / Kim Hyesoon

Alice Sparkly Kat

The Astrological Is Political The Astrological Is Political

Why Alice Sparkly Kat uses postcolonial theory to read the stars.

Jun 1, 2021 / Q&A / Mary Retta

Obeisance

Obeisance Obeisance

To Mar-a-Lago lapdogs wend To kiss Trump’s ring, lament his trials. They’re piling high upon his lap. The yelping can be heard for miles.

Jun 1, 2021 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Nation Poetry

Final Poem for the ‘Field of Poetry’ Final Poem for the ‘Field of Poetry’

In the grip of a nor’easter, you come bearing grief, have in pieces not come in peace. You arrive bladed with certainty. You slam shut the car door and smolder before the locked ca…

Jun 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Phillip Williams

The Gilded Age’s Democratic Contradictions

The Gilded Age’s Democratic Contradictions The Gilded Age’s Democratic Contradictions

A new history examines how the late 19th century’s raucous party system gave way to a more sedate and exclusionary political culture that erected more and more barriers to particip...

Jun 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

Telling the Story of Undocumented America

Telling the Story of Undocumented America Telling the Story of Undocumented America

Using both journalism and visionary vignettes, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio examines undocumented life in contemporary United States.

Jun 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Gaiutra Bahadur

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