Books & the Arts

Daylight Answers: On ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Daylight Answers: On ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

A massacre in Aurora and the cinema of social hallucination.

Aug 8, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Chris Hayes Gets Called ‘Media Elite’ by Stephen Colbert Chris Hayes Gets Called ‘Media Elite’ by Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert took Hayes to task on his show, holding up Hayes's book Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy.

Aug 6, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Press Room

Hail and Farewell, Gore Vidal Hail and Farewell, Gore Vidal

I don't feel sad for Gore Vidal today. If anything, I feel sad for my country, which lost one of its truest patriots.

Aug 1, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Peter Z. Scheer

Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution Gore Vidal and the Unfinished American Revolution

A literary lion who ran for Congress and the Senate, Vidal was a displaced American founder in the tradition of Shays’ Rebellion. 

Aug 1, 2012 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols

How About Also Taking the Guns From the Cops? How About Also Taking the Guns From the Cops?

The hit BBC show Luther, not to mention real London police, are important reminders that you don't need a gun to be a good cop.  

Aug 1, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Cord Jefferson

‘Secundus Defecated Here’: What Ancient Graffiti Means Today ‘Secundus Defecated Here’: What Ancient Graffiti Means Today

If you’re under the false impression that the world is falling into utter moral disrepair, turn your eyes toward Pompeii.

Jul 26, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Cord Jefferson

For Real: Torture America Style

For Real: Torture America Style For Real: Torture America Style

Institutionalized torture says not look what we can do, but look what we disown, what only the bad apples among us require.

Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Peter C. Baker

Living With Disjunction: Manifesta 9 and Documenta 13 Living With Disjunction: Manifesta 9 and Documenta 13

Steeped in anthropology and art history, this summer’s big shows are occasions for talk instead of exploring art that reaches the unsaid.

Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Subterranean Blues: On ExxonMobil

Subterranean Blues: On ExxonMobil Subterranean Blues: On ExxonMobil

Moral indignation is no longer enough to combat the power of Big Oil.

Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Kim Phillips-Fein

Shelf Life Shelf Life

Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street; Vera Farmiga’s Higher Ground; John Cassavetes’s Too Late Blues

Jul 24, 2012 / Books & the Arts / Akiva Gottlieb

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