The Limits of Understanding the Pandemic Philosophically The Limits of Understanding the Pandemic Philosophically
Byung-Chul Han’s The Palliative Society tries to contextualize the emotional and cultural ramifications of Covid-19 without ever addressing its material consequences.
Feb 1, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Clinton Williamson
Theater Kids and the End Times in “Station Eleven” Theater Kids and the End Times in “Station Eleven”
The HBO adaptation of Emily St. Mandel’s postapocalyptic pandemic novel examines, with mixed results, the endurance of art after society collapses.
Jan 31, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi
The Sublime Ironies of John Ashbery The Sublime Ironies of John Ashbery
Does his first posthumous collection, Parallel Movement of the Hands, help answer the riddle of his poetic project?
Jan 27, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ryan Ruby
The Story of Capitalism in One Family The Story of Capitalism in One Family
The Lehman Trilogy proposes that the downfall of a financial dynasty is enough to tell the economic and political history of America
Jan 26, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon
The Surprising History of the Comic Book The Surprising History of the Comic Book
Since their initial popularity during World War II, comic books have always been a medium for American counterculture and for nativism and empire.
Jan 25, 2022 / Books & the Arts / J. Hoberman
The Past and Future of Native California The Past and Future of Native California
A new book retells California’s history through the experience of its Native peoples.
Jan 24, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Julian Brave NoiseCat
Terry Teachout and the Last of the Conservative Critics Terry Teachout and the Last of the Conservative Critics
He was a generation younger than Joan Didion and her cohort of critics who got their start at National Review. With his death, their strain of criticism seems not only rare but per...
Jan 20, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Jeet Heer
Lessons From Louise Glück Lessons From Louise Glück
A conversation with the poet and Nobel laureate about her career, teaching, her next book, and more.
Jan 18, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Sam Huber
Strange and Intimate Encounters With Kathy Acker Strange and Intimate Encounters With Kathy Acker
In Philosophy for Spiders, McKenzie Wark revisits Acker’s work to fashion a different kind of literary theory—one more personal and erotic.
Jan 13, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Alyse Burnside
Lucille Clifton and the Task of Remembering Lucille Clifton and the Task of Remembering
The poet’s memoir Generations is both a chronicle of her ancestral lineage and lesson in the centrality of Black women to the story of American history.
Jan 12, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Marina Magloire