Books and Ideas

How has Religious Experience Changed in a Secular Age?

How has Religious Experience Changed in a Secular Age? How has Religious Experience Changed in a Secular Age?

A new book by Tara Isabella Burton explores how people are infusing new cultural forms with quasi-religious meaning.

Dec 15, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow

Theodor Adorno and the Crises of Liberalism

Theodor Adorno and the Crises of Liberalism Theodor Adorno and the Crises of Liberalism

At the center of Adorno’s work was a reminder that fascist movements are not exceptional to liberal democracy but signs of its failure.

Dec 15, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Peter E. Gordon

Trump and Pardons

Trump and Pardons Trump and Pardons

The power to pardon is something he likes. It makes him feel king-like and strong. It’s lucky his kids and his cronies include So many who’ve done something wrong.

Dec 15, 2020 / Column / Calvin Trillin

How Did We End Up With Our Current Public Defender System?

How Did We End Up With Our Current Public Defender System? How Did We End Up With Our Current Public Defender System?

Sara Mayeux’s new history highlights how without a more fundamental transformation of criminal law, public defenders often provide only a limited form of equality and fairness befo...

Dec 14, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Matthew Clair

Bob Dylan at Montfort Hall, Leicester (U.K.) in 1965.

How Bob Dylan Wrote the Second Great American Songbook How Bob Dylan Wrote the Second Great American Songbook

The sale of the singer-songwriter’s catalogue is a reminder of his massive cultural legacy.

Dec 11, 2020 / Jeet Heer

Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day

Will the USA remember our promise?

Dec 10, 2020 / OppArt / Jos Sances

The Vanishing Queer Underground of Los Angeles

The Vanishing Queer Underground of Los Angeles The Vanishing Queer Underground of Los Angeles

Reynaldo Rivera’s photos of the city's nightlife document a time of cheap rent and possibility.

Dec 10, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wolf

Re-opening Continues Across Densely Populated New York And New Jersey Areas

A Guide to Giving: Worst Year Ever Edition A Guide to Giving: Worst Year Ever Edition

Get a fresh start after a rotten year—help those who help others.

Dec 10, 2020 / Column / Katha Pollitt

How Rural China Became an Engine for Global Consumer Capitalism

How Rural China Became an Engine for Global Consumer Capitalism How Rural China Became an Engine for Global Consumer Capitalism

Xiaowei Wang’s Blockchain Chicken Farm surveys the tech industry in the Chinese countryside to upend the way we talk about the Internet in the West.

Dec 9, 2020 / Books & the Arts / A.Y. Li

The Past and Future of the Left in the Democratic Party

The Past and Future of the Left in the Democratic Party The Past and Future of the Left in the Democratic Party

Centrist Democrats who blamed the left for election losses would do well to remember the people who have fought for and shaped the party’s history.

Dec 9, 2020 / Michael Brenes and Michael Koncewicz

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