Whose “It’s a Wonderful Life” Is It Anyway? Whose “It’s a Wonderful Life” Is It Anyway?
How everybody’s favorite Christmas movie about the perils of monopoly capitalism became a victim of monopoly capitalism.
Dec 25, 2023 / Ray Nowosielski and David Cassidy
The Misguided Satire of “American Fiction” The Misguided Satire of “American Fiction”
A buzzy film adaptation of Percival Everett’s Erasure, a novel about publishing’s racial politics, misreads what is truly ailing the book industry.
Dec 22, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
The Medieval-ness of Mark Zuckerberg The Medieval-ness of Mark Zuckerberg
There’s something very feudal about his massive doomsday bunker.
Dec 22, 2023 / Kate Wagner
A Measure of Justice at Last for Victor Jara A Measure of Justice at Last for Victor Jara
On December 1—just two days after the death of Henry Kissinger renewed international attention to the US role in the 1973 coup in Chile against the democratically elected governmen…
Dec 21, 2023 / Peter Kornbluh
A Memoir for the Post-Truth Era A Memoir for the Post-Truth Era
In Sarah Viren’s To Name a Bigger Lie, she investigates how conspiracy theories have changed her relationship to the world.
Dec 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Julia Case-Levine
The Revolution Will Be Posted The Revolution Will Be Posted
Oaxaca, Mexico. street art.
Reading “Mumbo Jumbo” in the Post-Covid Age Reading “Mumbo Jumbo”" "in the Post-Covid Age
Ishmael Reed's novel depicts an American government dedicated to public health as long as its efforts keep hierarchy and the status quo in place.
Dec 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Melvin Backman
Silicon Landlords: On the Narrowing of AI’s Horizon Silicon Landlords: On the Narrowing of AI’s Horizon
The one thing science fiction couldn’t imagine is the world we have now: the near-complete control of Artificial Intelligence by a few corporations whose only goal is profit.
Dec 19, 2023 / Dwayne Monroe
Sasha Frere-Jones, a Life Remixed Sasha Frere-Jones, a Life Remixed
Sasha Frere-Jones is an institution of music criticism in an era when music critics are no longer institutions. Roughly over the course of the 1990s, Frere-Jones made a transformat…
Dec 19, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Piccarella
The Real Tragedy of Rudy Giuliani The Real Tragedy of Rudy Giuliani
The disgraced former mayor was a racist authoritarian—even back when he was being celebrated by the mainstream media.
Dec 18, 2023 / Jeet Heer