Books and Ideas

Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties

Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties Brandon Taylor’s Potlucks and Parties

In his new collection of short stories, the Booker-Prize nominated novelist explores the desires and discontents of people living in small university towns. 

Jul 13, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson

The Movement President

The Movement President The Movement President

Did Ronald Reagan help launch a movement—or did a set of movements help launch him? 

Jul 12, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney

The End of the Veiled Prophet

The End of the Veiled Prophet The End of the Veiled Prophet

After over a century, the unelected mascot of St. Louis is finally losing its place in public life.

Jul 9, 2021 / Devin Thomas O’Shea

‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant

‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant ‘What Would It Mean to Think That Thought?’: The Era of Lauren Berlant

Four writers on the legacy of Berlant’s thinking both in the academy and in public life.

Jul 8, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Judith Butler, Maggie Doherty, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, and Gabriel Winant

US BORDER wall

The Ideology of the Border The Ideology of the Border

Brendan O'Connor’s Blood Red Lines examines how disparate right-wing groups organized around a shared world view he calls “border fascism.”

Jul 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Felipe de la Hoz

Viet Thanh Nguyen

‘We Have to Make Our Nation Confront What It Doesn’t Want to Remember’ ‘We Have to Make Our Nation Confront What It Doesn’t Want to Remember’

A conversation with Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Jun 30, 2021 / Q&A / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

The Aliens Are Coming to Help The Aliens Are Coming to Help

Liberals will try to create a scandal out of even the smallest space invasion.

Jun 29, 2021 / Tom Tomorrow

How Did Education in the United States Become So Unequal?

How Did Education in the United States Become So Unequal? How Did Education in the United States Become So Unequal?

A new history of Boston’s schools reminds us how the brittle vision of whom and what education serves has long been defined by managers and employers instead of the educators who d...

Jun 29, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Megan Erickson

January 6 Reckoning

January 6 Reckoning January 6 Reckoning

The veep who’d been slavishly loyal, Mike Pence, Accomplished his duty despite the mob, hence He’s now called a traitor; the hatred’s intense. In cults deviation…

Jun 29, 2021 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Diane Johnson’s Homecoming

Diane Johnson’s Homecoming Diane Johnson’s Homecoming

In her new novel, the novelist returns to the United States to offer a self-conscious story of American fragmentation.

Jun 28, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Becca Rothfeld

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