Books and Ideas

Buffy (Darren Robinson) of the Fat Boys in Chicago, 1985.

Questlove’s Personal History of Hip-Hop Questlove’s Personal History of Hip-Hop

An elegiac retelling of rap's origins, Hip-Hop Is History also ends with a sense of hope.

Aug 27, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Bijan Stephen

Then–US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifying before the Senate Budget Committee in 2009.

The Intractable Puzzle of Growth The Intractable Puzzle of Growth

For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we migh...

Aug 26, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Benjamin Kunkel

Saddam Hussein and Mulla Mustafa al-Barzani, 1970.

The “Cascade of Errors” That Led to America’s War on Terror The “Cascade of Errors” That Led to America’s War on Terror

Steve Coll’s new book looks at the hubris and delusions of American foreign-policy makers and counterparts in the Middle East that led to a war that still haunts the globe.

Aug 22, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Lyle Jeremy Rubin

Guy Davenport, 1997.

Guy Davenport—the Last High Modernist Guy Davenport—the Last High Modernist

In the essays collected in Geography of the Imagination, one can glimpse the inner workings of the mind of a 20th-century literary genius.

Aug 21, 2024 / Books & the Arts / David Schurman Wallace

Percival Everett’s Great American Novel

Percival Everett’s Great American Novel Percival Everett’s Great American Novel

In his new novel James, Everett reminds us of the thorny absurdity that is U.S. history.

Aug 19, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Omari Weekes

Detail of Bundi School, 17th century, National Museum, New Delhi, India.

A Paean to Nonhuman Life A Paean to Nonhuman Life

In Lydia Millet’s We Loved It All, she compels readers to decenter human experience in the stories we tell about the natural world.

Aug 14, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Julia Case-Levine

A.J. Muste (left, seated) leading a class at Brookwood in 1925.

To Build Working-Class Power, We Need a Workers’ Education Movement To Build Working-Class Power, We Need a Workers’ Education Movement

A century ago, labor colleges transformed American unions. It’s time to bring them back.

Aug 13, 2024 / Feature / Daniel Judt

American tennis star Althea Gibson hits a return shot to Colette Monnot during her singles match at the Surrey Grass Court Championship, held at the Surbiton Racket and Fitness Club.

Althea Gibson Let the Racquet Do the Talking Althea Gibson Let the Racquet Do the Talking

A recent biography of the complicated tennis legend underlines the sport’s persistent challenges with race, class, and celebrity.

Aug 13, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon

“The Measure Should Not Be Called the Johnson Bill, but the Ku Klux Klan Bill”

“The Measure Should Not Be Called the Johnson Bill, but the Ku Klux Klan Bill” “The Measure Should Not Be Called the Johnson Bill, but the Ku Klux Klan Bill”

When Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924 a century ago, The Nation issued a prescient warning to its readers.

Aug 12, 2024 / Richard Kreitner

Photo of a historical inscription in the Remterkeller of Halberstadt Cathedral.

Their Atrocities—and Ours: Thinking About the Wrong Side of History Their Atrocities—and Ours: Thinking About the Wrong Side of History

Can a cause still be just, even if atrocities have been committed on its behalf?

Aug 12, 2024 / Bruce Robbins

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