Singularly Adaptable: On Alain Mabanckou Singularly Adaptable: On Alain Mabanckou
In Black Bazaar, characters vent and stumble over their shared obsession with the colonial past.
Oct 30, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Aaron Thier
Three Republican Candidates Discourse on the Subject of Rape Three Republican Candidates Discourse on the Subject of Rape
(And a fourth remains exceedingly quiet) Legitimate rape, so we’re told by Todd Akin, Will not produce children but simply awaken Defensive biology. That quickly locks The system all down, just as safe as Fort Knox. Joe Walsh says exceptions for “life of the mother” Are phony exceptions, just like all the other Exceptions suggested. Walsh says it’s all jive, Since doctors can always keep momma alive. Now Mourdock says rapists’ seed must be defended. A pity, he says, but it’s what God intended. This absolute stance to which Mourdock still cleaves Just happens to be what Paul Ryan believes. The Rape Science Three can provide more reminders That now Mitt’s got wingnuts in all of those binders.
Oct 30, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days… and Fifty Years The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days… and Fifty Years
Even now, our understanding of that fraught moment is built on falsehoods and myths.
Oct 30, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
George McGovern, Prairie Populist George McGovern, Prairie Populist
The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, who died at 90 on October 21, embraced and inspired the struggle for peace and economic and social justice.
Oct 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / The Editors
Foreign Policy Debate Foreign Policy Debate
Mitt seemed to agree with Obama a lot. Divergence in policy got hard to spot. He used all the moderate words he could muster. So where was the Mittster’s past neocon bluster? He knew that those still undecided would hate it. The answer then is that the Etch A Sketch ate it.
Oct 24, 2012 / Column / Calvin Trillin
What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War
The realization that markets need government saved capitalism after World War II.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Melvyn P. Leffler
What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy
The wing-nuttery’s gaybaiting is not just a fringe phenomenon—it’s part of an old Republican tradition of macho posturing against Democrats.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Neal Gabler
The Master’s Servants: On Henry James The Master’s Servants: On Henry James
Nothing ages faster than the idea of an “ageless” writer. Consider the posthumous career of Henry James.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson
The Delirium Scale: The Fiftieth New York Film Festival The Delirium Scale: The Fiftieth New York Film Festival
Among the standouts at this year’s NYFF are Christian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills and Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
In the Country of No Country In the Country of No Country
In the country the buildings seem smooth as if their faces were lifted by benevolent surgeons— so laid-back, they rarely make a mistake. And their doors—true the wood seems insecure when bothered by cathedral fantasies but they remain upright, with a steadfast reach like people who speak clearly in crisis. To some the local is not alive—it is a process that has stopped, like a factory machine the day of the big shutdown. But to others, who see past the horizon of the cliché industry returns to the valley an extravagant, steampunk renaissance fair.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Jerome Sala