Silver Spoon Ode Silver Spoon Ode
I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and a silver knife, and a silver fork. I would complain about it—the spoon was not greasy, it tasted like braces, my shining access to c…
Jan 19, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Sharon Olds
Letting My Hair Down Letting My Hair Down
And then my wry neck got so wry— chicken-neck wring-wry—I had to spend time with my hair down, like roots into the ground of the air, my visible shock, my “terror,” my “horror.” Ho…
Jan 19, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Sharon Olds
Plenty’s Discontent Plenty’s Discontent
The lost sense of hope and idealism in David Hare’s England.
Jan 19, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon
Kerry James Marshall’s Enigmatic Authority Kerry James Marshall’s Enigmatic Authority
It seems a mistake to call him a realist in any but the loosest sense.
Jan 18, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
A Victory Lap for Run the Jewels A Victory Lap for Run the Jewels
With the Trump presidency on the horizon, Killer Mike and El-P do what’s become customary for them: They urge us to get up and fight.
Jan 17, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore
It’s the World Committing Suicide Said One Mom It’s the World Committing Suicide Said One Mom
No it’s murder, said another. I think people don’t care because it’s only animals dying, said Miriam. a life spent making marks was what she had been doing she wondered if this…
Jan 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Zucker
I Can Barely Stand To I Can Barely Stand To
today at the Louvre I took students to see Venus de Milo with her pert exquisite breasts & read them Emma Lazarus’ poem to grief-struck Heinrich Heine we talked ekphrastic thi…
Jan 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Zucker
Harvey Cox’s Radicalism Harvey Cox’s Radicalism
How the theologian and social critic reminds us of the radical possibilities and egalitarian hopes of a Christian left.
Jan 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Elizabeth Bruenig
Birth of an Imperial Nation Birth of an Imperial Nation
A new history of 19th-century America captures how the United States was always an empire.
Jan 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Gabriel Winant
Polanyi In Our Times Polanyi In Our Times
What the Austro-Hungarian economic theorist tells us about the upheavals of our age.
Dec 22, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Nikil Saval