“The Subject of Painting Is Paint”: On Frank Bowling “The Subject of Painting Is Paint”: On Frank Bowling
The British artist's work challenges all notions you might have about the relationship between politics and aesthetics.
Jan 10, 2024 / Books & the Arts / John-Baptiste Oduor
The Idea of the Nation-State Is Synonymous With Genocide The Idea of the Nation-State Is Synonymous With Genocide
A conversation with political theorist Mahmood Mamdani on the inherent violence at the heart of a nation-building project, the war in Gaza, and the changing meaning of homeland.
Jan 9, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Francis Wade
A Metaphysical Memoir of Heroin A Metaphysical Memoir of Heroin
Michael Clune’s White Out is among the most intense and intellectually thrilling books on opiate addiction.
Jan 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Kolitz
Susan Taubes’s Uncanny Chronicles of Domestic Hell Susan Taubes’s Uncanny Chronicles of Domestic Hell
Her previously unreleased fiction—a novella and short stories—in Lament for Julia peek into the banal and nightmarish travails of married life.
Jan 4, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kathy Chow
Michael Mann’s Need for Speed Michael Mann’s Need for Speed
The director’s biopic of Enzo Ferrari is a perfect encapsulation of his primary aesthetic interest: the death drive and male melancholy.
Jan 3, 2024 / Books & the Arts / James Duesterberg
“All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”: A Masterpiece of American Southern Filmmaking “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”: A Masterpiece of American Southern Filmmaking
Raven Jackson’s remarkable debut is a poetic look into Black family life in the South.
Jan 2, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kelli Weston
Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Portrait of Gay Indonesia Norman Erikson Pasaribu’s Portrait of Gay Indonesia
In, Happy Stories, Mostly, a collection of short stories, the complexities of queer life in the Southeast Asian country come into focus.
Dec 28, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Bryony Lau
The Uncanny Façades of “May December” The Uncanny Façades of “May December”
Todd Haynes’s discomfiting and hypnotic suburban melodrama examines topics the director knows well: sex, taboo, and control.
Dec 27, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Beatrice Loayza
The Indefensible Job of Policing the Border The Indefensible Job of Policing the Border
Against the Wall, a former border officer’s memoir, argues that when it comes to protecting the border, cruelty is the point.
Dec 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Caroline Tracey
An Introduction to Marxism Unlike Any Other An Introduction to Marxism Unlike Any Other
Søren Mau’s Mute Compulsion offers a unique and relatable entry into the social and economic dimensions of modern Marxist thought.
Dec 25, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Matt McManus