Whose Side Is ‘The Walking Dead’ On? Whose Side Is ‘The Walking Dead’ On?
Cable TV’s top hit is used to justify every political point of view—right or left, pro-NRA or pro-gun control, even pro-sequester or pro-stimulus.
Apr 5, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Leslie Savan
Kircher’s Cosmos: On Athanasius Kircher Kircher’s Cosmos: On Athanasius Kircher
How did a man who got so many things wrong become an intellectual celebrity in his own lifetime?
Apr 3, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Paula Findlen
Now That April’s Here Now That April’s Here
Snow paid attention, left the white pines scarred and the springtime yard rife with life and destruction. Moss hair back from the dead brings the Green Man’s head softly, softly, underfoot right beside the maple root that quotes Sévigné‚ up the budding tree: “Spring is red.”
Apr 3, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Christina Robb
Hunter-Blatherer: On Jared Diamond Hunter-Blatherer: On Jared Diamond
An unreliable anthropologist of traditional societies is a no less dubious diagnostician of the contemporary world.
Apr 3, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Wertheim
The Minutemen and the Mainstream Media The Minutemen and the Mainstream Media
A new book argues that the media failed to grasp the frightening extremism of the anti-immigrant border patrols of a few years ago—and wraps it in a thrilling true-crime tale...
Apr 3, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Rick Perlstein
The Doomsday Prepper Caucus The Doomsday Prepper Caucus
Prophecies of government tyranny, financial meltdown and violent anarchy featured on Doomsday Preppers are being absorbed into contemporary conservatism.
Apr 2, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Reed Richardson
Made in the USA? Letter From London Made in the USA? Letter From London
Books about London in its Olympic year and after see Americanization eroding the city’s gift for democratic gradualism.
Mar 27, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson
Shelf Life Shelf Life
Paul Hoover’s second edition of Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology.
Mar 27, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Ange Mlinko
Man in the Middle: On Philip Glass Man in the Middle: On Philip Glass
Philip Glass’s new opera, The Perfect American, is a mix of bluster and inspiration.
Mar 27, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Blitzer
30 Seconds Over Toledo: How Political Ads Spell Trouble for TV News and Democracy 30 Seconds Over Toledo: How Political Ads Spell Trouble for TV News and Democracy
In the wake of Citizens United, big campaign donors are buying off not only politicians, but also the local news networks that cover them.
Mar 21, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman and Reed Richardson