Hearing the Trauma You Can’t See Hearing the Trauma You Can’t See
Kevin Beasley’s new Whitney show, built around a massive, whirring cotton-gin motor, argues for a new way to listen to the horror and beauty of history.
Feb 13, 2019 / Tiana Reid
What a Midwestern Presidential Candidate Learned From Marxist Intellectuals What a Midwestern Presidential Candidate Learned From Marxist Intellectuals
Pete Buttigieg’s father was a Gramsci scholar—but he taught his son more about ethics than revolution.
Feb 12, 2019 / Sara Marcus
How Did the Constitution Become America’s Authoritative Text? How Did the Constitution Become America’s Authoritative Text?
A new history of the early American republic recasts the origins of originalism and how the Constitution gained its “fixed” status.
Feb 7, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Karen J. Greenberg
The Making of Our Polluted Age The Making of Our Polluted Age
Three new books examine how the rise of coal, oil, and gas has permanently remade our world.
Feb 6, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Bill McKibben
Where Does Art Belong? Where Does Art Belong?
A trio of recent shows—from Hilma af Klint, Warhol, and Bruce Nauman—propose radically different answers to that question.
Feb 4, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Computers Were Supposed to Be Good Computers Were Supposed to Be Good
Joy Lisi Rankin’s book on the history of personal computing looks at the technology’s forgotten democratic promise.
Jan 30, 2019 / Gillian Terzis
Where Does Truth Fit into Democracy? Where Does Truth Fit into Democracy?
In modern democracies, who gets to determine what counts as truth—an elite of experts or the people as a whole?
Jan 24, 2019 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell
The Worlds of Anthony Powell The Worlds of Anthony Powell
Dance to the Music of Time succeeds because it escapes its origins and captures an era marked by uncertainty and wonder.
Jan 24, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Christopher de Bellaigue
The Militarization of the Southern Border Is a Long-Standing American Tradition The Militarization of the Southern Border Is a Long-Standing American Tradition
Trump’s wall is just the latest incarnation of an old fixation.
Jan 14, 2019 / Greg Grandin
Letters From the January 28-February 4, 2019, Issue Letters From the January 28-February 4, 2019, Issue
Fuzzy math… Where there’s smoke… The real George Bush… Thanks, but no thanks (web only)…
Jan 10, 2019 / Letters / Our Readers and Ben Ehrenreich