The Cut Man: On Taylor Branch The Cut Man: On Taylor Branch
Taylor Branch and a president's prodigious appetite for vindication before the bar of history.
Feb 18, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Chris Lehmann
Set Apart Set Apart
Set apart from the compound friction of forest, a rough-barked bur oak, mostly trunk, outlives its understory. A sapling in 1700, it rose like smoke from leaf litter, a totem for those who told tales vertically, every episode the offspring of earth and sky. Carotenoids flare through its vascular system in slow time, releasing aromas of black tea and tobacco. Winter-hardened, the oak endures, a column supporting nothing but its own fixed extension. The fine point of a feeding warbler-- a drifting spark or cursor-- ghosts its crown.
Feb 17, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Devin Johnston
Senator Mellencamp? Senator Mellencamp?
The guy who put populist politics on the charts with a song title "Pink Houses" John Mellencamp performed at the White House last week, as part of a program titled: "...
Feb 16, 2010 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
No Medals for Olympics Opener No Medals for Olympics Opener
Not to be too tough on the organizers of the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics, but how come someone else had to sing the Leonard Cohen song?
Feb 13, 2010 / Books & the Arts / John Nichols
Nation Contributors on Love: 144 Years of Romance and Skepticism Nation Contributors on Love: 144 Years of Romance and Skepticism
Over fourteen decades, The Nation has criticized, supported, debated, satirized and glorified what Valentine's Day stands for: love, sex and marriage.
Feb 12, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Various Contributors
Zinn-ophobia at NPR Zinn-ophobia at NPR
NPR's attempt to appease its critics by featuring comment from conservative pundits went a step too far when it let radical right-wing advocate David Horowitz contribute to Howard ...
Feb 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
Not Even Bing’s: On Louis Armstrong Not Even Bing’s: On Louis Armstrong
Terry Teachout's new biography of Louis Armstrong is stuck in the discophile groove.
Feb 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / David Schiff
The Renunciation Artist: On Leo Tolstoy The Renunciation Artist: On Leo Tolstoy
The axis of moral struggle, a stroke of salvation--these are the spiritual dimensions of Tolstoy's late fiction.
Feb 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / William Deresiewicz
CNN Un-Dobbed! CNN Un-Dobbed!
"So the haters have Fox, the lovers who are afraid to be hurt again have MSNBC, but what about all the people who watched the speech and found it too straightforward and under...
Feb 11, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Leslie Savan
When Snow Melts: Vancouver’s Olympic Crackdown When Snow Melts: Vancouver’s Olympic Crackdown
News Flash: Winter Olympic officials in tropical Vancouver have been forced to import snow - on the public dime - to make sure that the 2010 games proceed as planned. This use of t...
Feb 9, 2010 / Books & the Arts / Dave Zirin