The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days… and Fifty Years The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days… and Fifty Years
Even now, our understanding of that fraught moment is built on falsehoods and myths.
Oct 30, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
George McGovern, Prairie Populist George McGovern, Prairie Populist
The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, who died at 90 on October 21, embraced and inspired the struggle for peace and economic and social justice.
Oct 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / The Editors
What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War What Republicans Can Learn From the Cold War
The realization that markets need government saved capitalism after World War II.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Melvyn P. Leffler
What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy What’s Behind the Right’s ‘Obama Is Gay’ Conspiracy
The wing-nuttery’s gaybaiting is not just a fringe phenomenon—it’s part of an old Republican tradition of macho posturing against Democrats.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Neal Gabler
The Master’s Servants: On Henry James The Master’s Servants: On Henry James
Nothing ages faster than the idea of an “ageless” writer. Consider the posthumous career of Henry James.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Leo Robson
The Delirium Scale: The Fiftieth New York Film Festival The Delirium Scale: The Fiftieth New York Film Festival
Among the standouts at this year’s NYFF are Christian Mungiu’s Beyond the Hills and Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
In the Country of No Country In the Country of No Country
In the country the buildings seem smooth as if their faces were lifted by benevolent surgeons— so laid-back, they rarely make a mistake. And their doors—true the wood seems insecure when bothered by cathedral fantasies but they remain upright, with a steadfast reach like people who speak clearly in crisis. To some the local is not alive—it is a process that has stopped, like a factory machine the day of the big shutdown. But to others, who see past the horizon of the cliché industry returns to the valley an extravagant, steampunk renaissance fair.
Oct 23, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Jerome Sala
After the Euphoria: On the Arab Uprisings After the Euphoria: On the Arab Uprisings
What are the new rules of the political game in the Middle East? Nobody knows, but Marc Lynch’s The Arab Uprising is a useful guide.
Oct 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Patrick Cockburn
What Goes With What: On Richard Tuttle What Goes With What: On Richard Tuttle
Richard Tuttle’s sculpture seems to proclaim “No spirit but in things.”
Oct 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Madrigal Madrigal
People snap like asparagus stems. Oh no? She is flying along the base paths and the sun is nestled in her hat. She has the color of a stone roof which clearly enjoys it. If the year could do without spring, I’m guessing it would. The planet, mild analgesic, revolving around a similarly gaseous idea awash in consonants.
Oct 16, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Charles North