Books and Ideas

The Novel Solutions of Utopian Fiction

The Novel Solutions of Utopian Fiction The Novel Solutions of Utopian Fiction

Climate catastrophe has transformed a minor literary genre into an important tool of human thought.

Jul 16, 2021 / Feature / Kim Stanley Robinson

All That’s Utopian Melts Into Asphalt

All That’s Utopian Melts Into Asphalt All That’s Utopian Melts Into Asphalt

Utopia Parkway, which slices through the most diverse borough in New York, began as a dream of cooperative housing for poor Jewish immigrants.

Jul 16, 2021 / Feature / Molly Crabapple

Gattaca

Which Is the More Prescient Dystopia? ‘Gattaca’ or ‘Parable of the Sower’ Which Is the More Prescient Dystopia? ‘Gattaca’ or ‘Parable of the Sower’

Is it the 1997 film starring Ethan Hawke or is it Octavia E. Butler’s 1993 novel?

Jul 16, 2021 / The Debate / David M. Perry and Niela Orr

Gay Liberation Front

Can a Novel Capture the Tensions of Recent Queer History? Can a Novel Capture the Tensions of Recent Queer History?

An assimilationist and a liberationist play cat-and-mouse in Zak Salih’s debut novel Let’s Get Back to the Party.

Jul 15, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jake Nevins

In Utopia, I Never Have to Write About Immigration Again

In Utopia, I Never Have to Write About Immigration Again In Utopia, I Never Have to Write About Immigration Again

In a world without borders, migrants can be people—and migrant artists can, perhaps, be free.

Jul 15, 2021 / Feature / Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Utopia Is Possible—Yes, Even Now, Especially Now—but We Have to Demand It

Utopia Is Possible—Yes, Even Now, Especially Now—but We Have to Demand It Utopia Is Possible—Yes, Even Now, Especially Now—but We Have to Demand It

Radical faith in grand visions is supercharged by the promise that fundamental change is possible.

Jul 15, 2021 / Feature / John Nichols

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

America Doesn’t Have a Gun Problem America Doesn’t Have a Gun Problem

Guns don’t kill people... I guess?

Jul 14, 2021 / Tom Tomorrow

Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too

Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too Shulamith Firestone Wanted to Abolish Nature—We Should, Too

Revisiting her brilliant, irritable, deeply flawed manifesto in the pandemic.

Jul 14, 2021 / Feature / Sophie Lewis

Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism

Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism Utopia and Dystopia Are Twins—Both Are Born Out of Criticism

But it is only Utopia that allows us to dream together.

Jul 14, 2021 / Feature / Jeet Heer

Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight

Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight Kim Jong Un Drops Some Weight

So Kim Jong Un is looking rather svelte. He’s lost at least four notches on his belt. Has illness or a diet made him trim? Have shortages of food reached even Kim? Not yet. But if…

Jul 13, 2021 / Column / Calvin Trillin

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