The State of the Gay Bar The State of the Gay Bar
A new book explores the phenomenon of gay bar closures and the forms of nightlife that have emerged to replace them.
May 30, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Felsenthal
In Maria Ressa’s Philippines In Maria Ressa’s Philippines
The Nobel Prize–winning journalist's memoir offers a portrait of a country's struggles to battle the forces of populism and social media.
May 29, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Noah Flora
The Genius of Ella Fitzgerald The Genius of Ella Fitzgerald
She remade the American songbook in her image, uprooting the very meaning of musical performance.
May 28, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sam Fentress
A Coming of Age Novel That Puzzles Through Gender A Coming of Age Novel That Puzzles Through Gender
In Griffin Hansbury’s Some Strange Music Draws Me In, a man’s recollections of his transition opens up into a nuanced examination of gender identity’s many contradictions.
May 27, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Grace Byron
The Imperial Gaze Turns on Britain’s Isles The Imperial Gaze Turns on Britain’s Isles
In Elizabeth O’Connor’s Whale Fall, an encounter between English documentarians and a remote Welsh island community provokes questions of sexual and national identity.
May 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Emmet Fraizer
Claire Messud’s Remarkable Experiment in Historical Fiction Claire Messud’s Remarkable Experiment in Historical Fiction
Chronicling a pied-noir family across generations and continents, she examines the moral and political responsibilities a novelist owes their kin and their readers.
May 22, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lily Meyer
The Many Worlds of HBO’s “The Sympathizer” The Many Worlds of HBO’s “The Sympathizer”
The adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel is a study of migration—between identities and countries and also between different historical periods and genres.
May 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte
The Uses and Misuses of Spinoza The Uses and Misuses of Spinoza
The beguiling Dutch philosopher’s life and work is prone to misunderstandings and misreadings. A recent biography goes so far as to recruit him into the culture war.
May 20, 2024 / Books & the Arts / FT
The Roots of Trans Women’s Unjust Treatment The Roots of Trans Women’s Unjust Treatment
Jules Gill-Peterson’s A Short History of Trans Misogyny is an essential primer on the colonial and racist origins of hatred against those who refuse to adhere to the gender binary...
May 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / McKenzie Wark