Books & the Arts

China’s Battle for Cultural Power Begins at the Box Office

China’s Battle for Cultural Power Begins at the Box Office China’s Battle for Cultural Power Begins at the Box Office

A conversation with Erich Schwartzel about the vexed relationship between Hollywood and Beijing, how movies became a vehicle for Chinese ideology, and his new book Red Carpet.

May 10, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Han Zhang

When Did the Ruling Class Get Woke?

When Did the Ruling Class Get Woke? When Did the Ruling Class Get Woke?

A conversation with Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò on his new book Elite Capture, which investigates the co-option of identity politics and the importance of coalitional organizing. 

May 9, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ishan Desai-Geller

The Ground Beneath Us: On the Photographs of An-My Lê

The Ground Beneath Us: On the Photographs of An-My Lê The Ground Beneath Us: On the Photographs of An-My Lê

Her photos, whose subjects range from the Vietnamese countryside to the Rio Grande border, reveal hidden histories and elicit profound reconsiderations of the familiar. 

May 5, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Alex Jen 

An Intimate History of Hong Kong

An Intimate History of Hong Kong An Intimate History of Hong Kong

A conversation with Karen Cheung about her memoir The Impossible City, the nascent Hong Kong literary tradition, and understanding a period of upheaval through art and cultural exp...

May 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Rosemarie Ho

Jennifer Egan’s World Wide Web

Jennifer Egan’s World Wide Web Jennifer Egan’s World Wide Web

Her latest novel tackles a favorite topic of her fiction—the excesses of the Internet and modern technologies.

May 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Erin Somers

Nation Poetry

To a Friend Returning to Aleppo To a Friend Returning to Aleppo

We opened a bottle of wine, summoned mountains overlooking ancient cities, & cities, those pits of unease, & we left your mother’s illness alone—your mother, who insists yo…

May 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Zeina Hashem Beck

Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance

Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance

Lynn Garafola’s biography of the dancer and choreographer charts her globetrotting life and radical art. 

May 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Abolition Democracy

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Abolition Democracy W.E.B. Du Bois’s Abolition Democracy

The enduring legacy and capacious vision of Black Reconstruction.

May 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Gerald Horne

John Keene’s Poetry of Others

John Keene’s Poetry of Others John Keene’s Poetry of Others

In Punks, the self is never static and cannot exist outside its relationships to others.

May 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ken Chen

What Is Left of History?

What Is Left of History? What Is Left of History?

Joan Scott’s On the Judgment of History asks us to imagine the past without the idea of progress. But what gets left out in the process?

May 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell

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