Books and Ideas

Is Our Generation Ready to Take Up the Torch That John Lewis Lit?

Is Our Generation Ready to Take Up the Torch That John Lewis Lit? Is Our Generation Ready to Take Up the Torch That John Lewis Lit?

As legends like Lewis pass away, I wonder whether we’re prepared to become the new elders. 

Jul 23, 2020 / Column / Elie Mystal

Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s Alternative Progressive Vision

Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s Alternative Progressive Vision Roberto Mangabeira Unger’s Alternative Progressive Vision

We spoke to the Harvard law professor and philosopher about his incisive articulation of a different kind of progressivism.

Jul 21, 2020 / Q&A / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

Trump’s 2020 Campaign Strategy Is Already an Impressive Train Wreck Trump’s 2020 Campaign Strategy Is Already an Impressive Train Wreck

Another week of making things up, skirting the law, and talking about beans.

Jul 21, 2020 / Tom Tomorrow

Confederate Flag

Donald Trump: Confederate From Queens Donald Trump: Confederate From Queens

Trump says he will fight efforts to remove Confederate statues and to change the names of military bases named after Confederate generals.—news reports No matter that they fought…

Jul 14, 2020 / Column / Calvin Trillin

J.M. Coetzee’s States of Exile

J.M. Coetzee’s States of Exile J.M. Coetzee’s States of Exile

In writing an allegory that is barely an allegory and a trilogy of novels that are often not novels, Coetzee appears to have made his own literary displacement total. 

Jul 14, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It It’s Time to Tell a New Story About the Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

The way we talk about contagion matters. It shapes how societies respond—and whether many of us will survive.

Jul 14, 2020 / Feature / Sonia Shah

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

America Is Headed Off a Cliff America Is Headed Off a Cliff

Buckle up!

Jul 14, 2020 / Tom Tomorrow

The Many Lives of Catherine the Great

The Many Lives of Catherine the Great The Many Lives of Catherine the Great

A new Hulu show presents the life of the Russian empress as a narrative of lean-in empowerment. But was it?

Jul 13, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Pinkham

Milton Glaser, 1929–2020

Milton Glaser, 1929–2020 Milton Glaser, 1929–2020

Luckily for The Nation, Milton’s first rule was “You can only work for people you like.”

Jul 10, 2020 / Victor Navasky

Not Catharsis but Vengeance: The Startling Fiction of Fernanda Melchor

Not Catharsis but Vengeance: The Startling Fiction of Fernanda Melchor Not Catharsis but Vengeance: The Startling Fiction of Fernanda Melchor

Her novel Hurricane Season burrows into the circumstances of a small-town murder and what it says about a society that disregards femicide.

Jul 9, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Lucas Iberico Lozada

x