Arts and Entertainment

Nation Poetry

Saying I Am a Survivor in Another Language Saying I Am a Survivor in Another Language

We are in the moment before we decide, for the first time, to have sex. We fill our mouths with salami and wine. I am careful, peeling wax paper off glazed sponge cake baked by nun…

Jun 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Taneum Bambrick

Nation Poetry

DISCOURSE ON WHY INMATES EXIT PRISON WORSE THAN WHEN THEY WENT IN DISCOURSE ON WHY INMATES EXIT PRISON WORSE THAN WHEN THEY WENT IN

Bet you thought there was no such thing as too kind. I can’t write it into this poem without admitting kindness is a synonym for “too close” when its nectared syllables sap these p…

Jun 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / B Batchelor

Raoul Peck’s World

Raoul Peck’s World Raoul Peck’s World

In Exterminate All the Brutes, Peck offers a bold new history of colonialism and violence.

Jun 14, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Ed Morales

Aretha Fanklin

The Unwritten History of Black Performance The Unwritten History of Black Performance

Poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib’s new book undertakes an ambitious task: contextualizing the scope and scale of a people’s cultural expression.

Jun 10, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Kelton Ellis

Francis Bacon

Behind the Hedonist Persona of Francis Bacon Behind the Hedonist Persona of Francis Bacon

Annalyn Swan and Mark Stevens’s comprehensive study of the British artist is a sensitive investigation into his artistic identity.

Jun 9, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Tausif Noor

Corrugated Tin Facade / Tin Building WALKER EVANS

The Anti-Nostalgia of Walker Evans The Anti-Nostalgia of Walker Evans

A recent biography reveals the many contradictions of the photographer who fastidiously documented postwar American life.

Jun 8, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Rahel Aima

A Year Lived Inside With Instagram and a Dutch Master

A Year Lived Inside With Instagram and a Dutch Master A Year Lived Inside With Instagram and a Dutch Master

What Pieter de Hooch, social media, and the lockdown taught me.

Jun 3, 2021 / Feature / Benjamin Moser

Sun Ra

The Story of Sun Ra’s Egyptian Adventure The Story of Sun Ra’s Egyptian Adventure

How a 1971 trip changed the course of the free jazz icon’s career.

Jun 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’ The Surreal Pleasures of ‘The Masked Singer’

By discarding all the tropes of standard reality TV, this singing competition allows viewers to revel in pure weirdness.

Jun 2, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Erin Schwartz

Alice Sparkly Kat

The Astrological Is Political The Astrological Is Political

Why Alice Sparkly Kat uses postcolonial theory to read the stars.

Jun 1, 2021 / Q&A / Mary Retta

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