Books & the Arts
The Worlds of Noam Chomsky The Worlds of Noam Chomsky
If ordinary Americans know one critic of the American Empire, it’s almost certainly Chomsky.
Fady Joudah’s Poetry of Dislocation Fady Joudah’s Poetry of Dislocation
In his new book of poetry, […], the poet, translator, and ER doctor explores Palestinians’ experiences of exile and displacement—and the difficulty of healing amid the ongoing Nak…
Olga Tokarczuk’s New Rules for Realism Olga Tokarczuk’s New Rules for Realism
In The Empusium, the Polish novelist’s first novel since her Nobel, she pays homage to Thomas Mann in order to redraw the boundaries of the realist novel.
What Do We Want From Bob Dylan’s Story? What Do We Want From Bob Dylan’s Story?
In James Mangold’s film A Complete Unknown, we get a cautious and reverent story of a musician who has always sought to transcend the limits imposed upon him.
From the Magazine
The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq
What happened to the French novelist?
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…
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.
Literary Criticism
Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money Danzy Senna’s Acerbic Satires of Art and Money
Having gnawed away at literary and political conventions from within their hallowed forms, Senna has now set her eyes on Hollywood.
The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud The Magic of Reading Bernard Malamud
His work, unlike that of Bellow or Roth, focused on the lives of often impoverished Jews in Brooklyn and the Bronx and bestowed on them a literary magic.
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?”
History & Politics
The Intractable Puzzle of Growth The Intractable Puzzle of Growth
For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we migh…
The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance
The deep roots of debt relief activism in the United States.
The Impossible Story of Communism The Impossible Story of Communism
How do you tell the history of a global movement in all its hope and contradiction?
Art & Architecture
The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance The Cosmopolitan Modernism of the Harlem Renaissance
A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the world-spanning art of the Harlem Renaissance.
Rain and Mountains Rain and Mountains
Pages from a novelist’s notebook.
What’s the Deal With Manhattan’s Pencil-Thin High Rises? What’s the Deal With Manhattan’s Pencil-Thin High Rises?
A walk along 57th Street.
Film & Television
The Empty Promise of “Megalopolis” The Empty Promise of “Megalopolis”
Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited magnum opus is a flop.
“Anora,” an American Fantasia “Anora,” an American Fantasia
In Sean Baker’s tragicomic film of a sex worker’s brush with wealth, he evokes auteurs of yore, who focused on the social realities of the country’s outcasts.
The Apprenticeship of Donald Trump The Apprenticeship of Donald Trump
A new film examines Trump’s formative years under the tutelage of Roy Cohn.
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The Harrowing Ardor of Heather Lewis The Harrowing Ardor of Heather Lewis
Her fiction was miscast as merely transgressive. Rather, her novels were interested in understanding life in its most unvarnished and unmediated.
Feb 20, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Gracie Hadland
What the Paiva Family Means to Brazil What the Paiva Family Means to Brazil
In I’m Still Here, one Brazilian clan’s confrontation with the military dictatorship dramatizes the last half-century of Brazil’s democratic travails.
Feb 19, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Andre Pagliarini
Beatriz Nascimento’s Histories of Afro-Brazilian Rebellion Beatriz Nascimento’s Histories of Afro-Brazilian Rebellion
The scholar, poet, and filmmaker devoted her life to sketching out a revisionist historiography of resistance in Latin America but also the world.
Feb 18, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Yasmina Price
“The Pitt” and the Gritty Return of the Hospital Drama “The Pitt” and the Gritty Return of the Hospital Drama
In the frenzied medical drama, the limits and problems of the healthcare system serve as the basis for the show’s plot.
Feb 12, 2025 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte
The Uncomfortable Genius of Mike Leigh The Uncomfortable Genius of Mike Leigh
In “Hard Truths,” Leigh reminds us that a family dinner can tell the story of a whole society.
Feb 12, 2025 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman
Henri Bergson’s States of Change Henri Bergson’s States of Change
Why did one of the early 20th century’s most famous philosophers go out of fashion?
Feb 11, 2025 / Books & the Arts / John Banville