Books & the Arts

The cast of “Reservation Dogs.”

How “Reservation Dogs” Changed the TV Landscape How “Reservation Dogs” Changed the TV Landscape

The pioneering FX show offered a window into contemporary Native life in all its joys and vicissitudes.

Nov 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi

A police officer stands in front of demonstrators during the March for Trans Revolution in Washington Square Park in New York, 2023.

How Gender Is Policed in America How Gender Is Policed in America

Paisley Currah’s wide-ranging study Sex Is as Sex Does examines how transphobia emerged in America as a result of contradictory and self-serving sex classification policies.

Nov 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Sam Huber

A scene from the film “Orphans of the Storm” depicting a group carrying a sign bearing the slogan “Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité,” 1921.

The History of Equality: It’s Complicated The History of Equality: It’s Complicated

A conversation with the historian Darrin McMahon about his new book Equality: The History of an Elusive Idea and the strange and contradicting development of the liberal version o...

Nov 16, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Newark Mayor Cory Booker at an educational summit at Rockefeller Plaza, 2010.

The Bipartisan Attack on Public Schools The Bipartisan Attack on Public Schools

In New Jersey, liberal and conservative forces poured resources into the charter school movement. This effort helps explain the woes of the public school system in the country.

Nov 15, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Sam Russek

Santiago, Chile, June 1973.

How Pinochet’s Chile Became a Laboratory for Neoliberalism How Pinochet’s Chile Became a Laboratory for Neoliberalism

A new book examines how a group of University of Chicago–trained economists sought to remake the Chilean economy in the aftermath of 1973.

Nov 14, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Vincent Bevins

Influence and the Rise of Digital Celebrity

Influence and the Rise of Digital Celebrity Influence and the Rise of Digital Celebrity

A history of social media from the perspective of the poster, Taylor Lorenz’s Extremely Online examines the roots and rise of our sponsorship-saturated ecosystem.

Nov 11, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Tarpley Hitt

Donald Trump, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Vince McMhaon at a press conference before Wrestlemania 23, 2007.

The Misunderstood History of American Wrestling The Misunderstood History of American Wrestling

A recent biography of WWE executive Vince McMahon presents him as an entertainment tycoon who changed culture and politics. The real story of his rise is as banal as it is brutal....

Nov 10, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Nadine Smith

A scene from “Youth (Spring).”

Wang Bing, the World’s Hardest-Working Director Wang Bing, the World’s Hardest-Working Director

In his new film, Youth (Spring), the prolific director examines how the People’s Republic became the workshop for much of the world.

Nov 9, 2023 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman

A New York City apartment building.

A Modern-Day Fable for the Tenant Class A Modern-Day Fable for the Tenant Class

Hilary Leichter’s fiction examines contemporary crises like work and inequality through the lens of magical realism. Her latest novel, Terrace Story, is a parable about the family...

Nov 8, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Grace Byron

Surreal Tales From Erdoğan’s Turkey

Surreal Tales From Erdoğan’s Turkey Surreal Tales From Erdoğan’s Turkey

In Kenan Orhan's collection I Am My Country, he examines a pervasive sense of estrangement in contemporary Turkish life for both citizens and exiles.

Nov 7, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Kaya Genç

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