Books & the Arts

Floodwater after Hurricane Florence in North Carolina.

As Climate Change Remakes the World, Where Will We Live? As Climate Change Remakes the World, Where Will We Live?

Our current systems for administering post-disaster aid are already failing so many—and things are only going to get worse.

Jul 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Leah Aronowsky

The Psychic Theater of Boots Riley

The Psychic Theater of Boots Riley The Psychic Theater of Boots Riley

Absurdist, darkly funny, I’m a Virgo tells a story of first love, capitalism’s surreal excesses, the contradictions of Black life, and how much politics a work of art can bear.

Jul 25, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte

Sonny Rollins on the Williamsburg Bridge.

The Monumental Improvisations of Sonny Rollins The Monumental Improvisations of Sonny Rollins

Though his life had its ups and downs, Rollins never wavered in his determination to get things right, and often that meant reinventing himself and, along the way, jazz as well.

Jul 24, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Gene Seymour

Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer”

The Many Enigmas of Oppenheimer The Many Enigmas of Oppenheimer

In Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan neither indicts nor vindicates the physicist. Instead, he offers a study of a man full of contradictions.

Jul 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jorge Cotte

Orphans, Girl sewing in a room in an orphanage, Victorian, German 19th Centur

The Problem of the Orphan Plot The Problem of the Orphan Plot

The child welfare system has served as a convenient narrative device for novels, podcasts, and the like. A new book interrogates what we think we know about foster care.

Jul 20, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emi Nietfeld

Martha Graham performing in 1962.

Martha Graham’s Movement Martha Graham’s Movement

A recent biography dives into the choreographer's role as both an artist and figure of early American modernism.

Jul 19, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emily Hawk

Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name?

Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name? Common Sense Fiscal Policy or Austerity by Another Name?

An interview with Clara E. Mattei about how liberal economists help quash working class movements and her new book The Capital Order. 

Jul 18, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Teamster protest in 2004 in Seattle, WA.

What Does It Take to Win a Strike? What Does It Take to Win a Strike?

John Womack's Labor Power and Strategy makes the case that by targeting strategic industries, workers can not only win power for themselves but also for labor generally.

Jul 17, 2023 / Books & the Arts / David Bacon

Sculpture of the Greek poet Sappho, 1880.

In the Shadow of Sappho In the Shadow of Sappho

Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho is a unique work of fiction that resembles a group biography on the travails of 20th-century queer feminist artists. 

Jul 13, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Lily Houston Smith

Alison Mills Newman

The Strange Legacy of “Francisco,” a Novel of Black Bohemianism The Strange Legacy of “Francisco,” a Novel of Black Bohemianism

Over the years, Alison Mills Newman has become disillusioned with her work of experimental fiction. Its story is now caught between radical aesthetics and conservative politics.

Jul 12, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

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