Books & the Arts

Trans Amazon highway construction near Altamira Brazil, 1971.

Is It Time to Imagine a World Without Roads? Is It Time to Imagine a World Without Roads?

Be it highway or dirt track, our infrastructure has become an ecological disaster. Ben Goldfarb’s Crossings catalogs the devastation.

Oct 19, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jimmy Tobias

Samuel Ringgold Ward.

The Many Lives of Samuel Ringgold Ward The Many Lives of Samuel Ringgold Ward

Books & the Arts / October 18, 2023 The Creed of Liberty The remarkable life of Samuel Ringgold Ward. The Many Lives of Samuel Ringgold Ward R.J.M. Blackett’s new biography…

Oct 18, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Kellie Carter Jackson

The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular

The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular The Latin School Teacher Who Made Classics Popular

A new biography of Edith Hamilton tells the story of how and why ancient literature became widely read in the United States.

Oct 17, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emily Wilson

How Everything Became Data

How Everything Became Data How Everything Became Data

Starting with the birth of statistics in the 19th century and concluding with algorithms and AI systems, a new book examines how humans became studied as a set of ones and zeroes....

Oct 16, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Ben Tarnoff

The London offices of Penguin Random House.

The Haunting of the Publishing House The Haunting of the Publishing House

The racism and prejudice of the industry has been the subject of recent novels. In R.F. Kuang's Yellowface, that plot becomes a horror story.

Oct 13, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Laura B. McGrath

A visitor takes photos of the Kowloon district from the viewing deck of the International Commerce Centre (ICC) in Hong Kong, 2017.

The Market Radicals Who Want to Put an End to Democracy The Market Radicals Who Want to Put an End to Democracy

A conversation with the historian Quinn Slobodian about economic loopholes, the end of neoliberalism, and his new book Crack-Up Capitalism.

Oct 11, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde’s Art of Disobedience Oscar Wilde’s Art of Disobedience

Revisiting his critical writing, we learn a valuable lesson about the critic’s role in refusing bad taste and bad politics.

Oct 9, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Vorona Cote

Condemned condominiums in Houston, 2007.

The Crisis of Shelter in the United States The Crisis of Shelter in the United States

Housing is one the building blocks of human life. Why is it so scarce in this country?

Oct 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore

The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore The Ghosts of Lorrie Moore

An enigmatic new novel retells a disorienting story about death, love, the Civil War, and everything in-between. 

Oct 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Erin Somers

What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism?

What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism? What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism?

Books & the Arts / October 3, 2023 The Good Life What can we learn from the history of utopianism? What Can We Learn From the History of Utopianism? In Everyday Utopias, Kr…

Oct 3, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emily Raboteau

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