Books and Ideas

What We Talk About When We Talk About Catastrophe

What We Talk About When We Talk About Catastrophe What We Talk About When We Talk About Catastrophe

In Elisa Gabbert’s new essay collection, she tries to untangle the fickle and contradictory ways humans deal with disaster.

Aug 27, 2020 / Rachel Vorona Cote

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

Thanks to 2020, We’re All Losing It Thanks to 2020, We’re All Losing It

Does anyone remember what the Republicans did yesterday?

Aug 25, 2020 / Tom Tomorrow

Harris CBP

Birtherism 2.0 Birtherism 2.0

Trump spreads doubt about Kamala Harris’s citizenship.—news reports No citizen, though Oakland-born, Hints Donald and his claque— Just like Obama, culpable Of being born while bla…

Aug 25, 2020 / Column / Calvin Trillin

First They Came for the Mailboxes…

First They Came for the Mailboxes… First They Came for the Mailboxes…

N…

Aug 25, 2020 / Jen Sorensen

How Federal Housing Programs Failed Black America

How Federal Housing Programs Failed Black America How Federal Housing Programs Failed Black America

In Race for Profit, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor shows how even those housing policies that sought to create more Black homeowners were stymied by racism and a determination to shr...

Aug 25, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Marcia Chatelain

Woman's Rights Pioneer Monument

The Problem With NYC’s New Women’s Rights Monument The Problem With NYC’s New Women’s Rights Monument

As statues topple across the US, a new women’s rights monument in Central Park has sparked debate over whether statues are a redeemable form of remembrance.

Aug 25, 2020 / Erin L. Thompson

Eric Posner’s Democracy for the Few

Eric Posner’s Democracy for the Few Eric Posner’s Democracy for the Few

A conservative gadfly joins “the Resistance.”

Aug 24, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn

Margaret Sanger

Canceling Margaret Sanger Only Helps Abortion Opponents Canceling Margaret Sanger Only Helps Abortion Opponents

When Planned Parenthood took the name of the organization’s founder off its flagship clinic in Manhattan, they bought into anti-choice propaganda. 

Aug 20, 2020 / Column / Katha Pollitt

The Radical Afterlives of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

The Radical Afterlives of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha The Radical Afterlives of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

The South Korean–born author of Dictée was killed at 31. Four decades later, her landmark experimental novel is poised for wider rediscovery.

Aug 20, 2020 / Mayukh Sen

What Populism Is and Is Not

What Populism Is and Is Not What Populism Is and Is Not

Thomas Frank’s history of anti-populism helps clarify one of the most contested terms in politics. 

Aug 19, 2020 / Ed Burmila

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