Culture

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

Ben Shahn, 1965.

How Should We Remember the Art of Ben Shahn? How Should We Remember the Art of Ben Shahn?

Caught between his political and aesthetic commitments, the painter, photographer, and illustrator has suffered the fate of misapprehension.

Sep 29, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Pujan Karambeigi

Kamala Harris at a campaign rally, 2024.

The Shortest Presidential Campaign The Shortest Presidential Campaign

Kamala Harris’s 107 Days offers a devastating indictment of Joe Biden. It also documents the limits of her own politics.

Sep 26, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Jeet Heer

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Wild American Epic

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Wild American Epic Paul Thomas Anderson’s Wild American Epic

One Battle After Another, a sensational adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel, captures the manic energies of a country on the brink.

Sep 25, 2025 / Books & the Arts / John Semley

A 35mm film photo shows an automobile making its way down an empty dirt road in Badlands National Park, 1940.

On the Road With Joe Westmoreland On the Road With Joe Westmoreland

The writer’s only novel, Tramps Like Us, is a classic of queer literature—one that crystallizes the agony and the ecstasy of coming of age during the HIV era.

Sep 25, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Sasha Geffen

Disney CEO Bob Iger holds a 2016 press conference at Disney’s Shanghai resort.

How the Kimmel Controversy Echoes Disney’s Dirty China Deal How the Kimmel Controversy Echoes Disney’s Dirty China Deal

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner berated the company’s capitulation before authoritarian MAGA threats, but in many ways, he set the example.

Sep 24, 2025 / Ben Schwartz

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