The Misunderstood Vision of KAWS The Misunderstood Vision of KAWS
An exhibition of his impressive collection compels our art critic to ask if we should start taking the world famous street artist’s project more seriously.
Dec 30, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
The Best Albums of 2024 The Best Albums of 2024
This year’s best music, our critic thinks, defied conventions of genre and doctrine, showing how hybrid and fluid the art has become.
Dec 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
The Empty Thrills of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Disclaimer” The Empty Thrills of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Disclaimer”
Why did the great Mexican filmmaker make a soapy thriller?
Dec 19, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte
The Brutalist and the Hidden Work of Architecture "The Brutalist" and the Hidden Work of Architecture
A film about survival, creativity, the hypocrisies of high art, The Brutalist tells a story about an architect who does not exploit and manipulate others to achieve his grand visi...
Dec 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wagner
David Montgomery and the Vitality of Labor History David Montgomery and the Vitality of Labor History
From his first book to his landmark account of the politics of the pre-WWI labor movement, Montgomery explored how people’s experiences of work shaped their political horizons.
Dec 17, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kim Phillips-Fein
The Illusory Beauty of “Nickel Boys” The Illusory Beauty of “Nickel Boys”
An avant-garde adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel careens between questions of style and substance.
Dec 17, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse
Isabella Hammad and the Politics of Recognition Isabella Hammad and the Politics of Recognition
In her capacious book of criticism, Recognizing the Stranger, Isabella Hammad asks: “How large is the gulf between us?”
Dec 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Abdelrahman ElGendy
What Happened to the Democratic Party? What Happened to the Democratic Party?
The squalid state of our present political institutions points to a failure of not just individuals but the system as a whole.
Dec 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Chris Lehmann
The Peculiar Case of Ignatius Donnelly The Peculiar Case of Ignatius Donnelly
The Minnesota politician presents a riddle for historians. He was a beloved populist but also a crackpot conspiracist. Were his politics tainted by his strange beliefs?
Dec 12, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Andrew Katzenstein