Culture

Forget What You’ve Heard: These Were the Ten Best Albums of 2015

Forget What You’ve Heard: These Were the Ten Best Albums of 2015 Forget What You’ve Heard: These Were the Ten Best Albums of 2015

In a year when sales numbers fell to an all-time low, the quality of music produced was stunningly high.

Dec 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu

US Army Joint Chiefs General William C. Westmoreland, 1972.

Support the Troops… and Support Me Support the Troops… and Support Me

A new history of the military welfare state shows how politicians and military leaders have draped themselves in yellow ribbons to advance their own careers.

Dec 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Martha Saxton

Flyers posted on a college noticeboard at Yale University, November 12, 2015.

Speechbros, Concern Trolls, and the Free-Speech Fraud Speechbros, Concern Trolls, and the Free-Speech Fraud

The anger over ceaseless racial threats has entwined with the recognition of campus as one more zone of unfreedom.

Dec 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Clover

December 16, 1901: Margaret Mead Is Born

December 16, 1901: Margaret Mead Is Born December 16, 1901: Margaret Mead Is Born

“The Samoan girl leads a busy, unconscious existence in which impulse and duty appear to play pleasantly correlative roles.”

Dec 16, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Missouri Tigers

‘Plantation Politics’: Racist Legislation Stalks the Mizzou Football Team ‘Plantation Politics’: Racist Legislation Stalks the Mizzou Football Team

A Missouri lawmaker is attempting to ensure that football players are seen but not heard.

Dec 15, 2015 / Dave Zirin

December 15, 2011: Christopher Hitchens Dies

December 15, 2011: Christopher Hitchens Dies December 15, 2011: Christopher Hitchens Dies

“Posterity is unlikely to deal kindly with his willingness to be a singer in the camp of George W. Bush.”

Dec 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Chi-Raq

‘Chi-raq’ Reveals Spike Lee’s Outdated Race Politics ‘Chi-raq’ Reveals Spike Lee’s Outdated Race Politics

At its heart, Chi-raq is a critique of the hypermasculine posturing that props up so much gang violence—but it only examines what that means for men, not women.

Dec 14, 2015 / Mychal Denzel Smith

A representative holds an “impact-absorbing” helmet at NFL Headquarters in New York.

There Is No ‘War on Football’ There Is No ‘War on Football’

The idea that concussion research is a liberal conspiracy is toxic and will hurt kids. It has to stop.

Dec 10, 2015 / Dave Zirin

Start Making Sense: The GOP’s Gun Problem

Start Making Sense: The GOP’s Gun Problem Start Making Sense: The GOP’s Gun Problem

On this week’s podcast, Laila Lalami on ISIS and American Muslims, Joan Walsh on our distorted gun politics, and Amy Wilentz and Tom Lutz on Chernobyl.

Dec 10, 2015 / Podcast / Start Making Sense and Jon Wiener

Donald Trump

Trump Wins Even If ‘Time’ Magazine Doesn’t Name Him Its ‘Person of the Year’ Trump Wins Even If ‘Time’ Magazine Doesn’t Name Him Its ‘Person of the Year’

The Person of the Year will be announced on Wednesday—and this year it really matters.

Dec 8, 2015 / Leslie Savan

x