Books and Ideas

Let the Killing Stop

Let the Killing Stop Let the Killing Stop

Kurt Vonnegut’s earliest recorded speech implored a bungling administration to stop committing brutalities. Little has changed.

Mar 31, 2020 / Kurt Vonnegut

Our Public Servants Maintain Normalcy by Being Regular Incompetent

Our Public Servants Maintain Normalcy by Being Regular Incompetent Our Public Servants Maintain Normalcy by Being Regular Incompetent

Coronavirus’s impact on American lives deepens.

Mar 31, 2020 / Tom Tomorrow

The Strange and Often Radical Pursuit of Immortality in Russia

The Strange and Often Radical Pursuit of Immortality in Russia The Strange and Often Radical Pursuit of Immortality in Russia

A new book looks at the history of a century-long movement to create life after death.

Mar 30, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Sophie Pinkham

This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t.

This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t. This Was Never Just About Woody Allen. It Still Isn’t.

Against the vice cop of the mind.

Mar 27, 2020 / JoAnn Wypijewski

Thomas Piketty: Confronting Our Long History of Massive Inequality

Thomas Piketty: Confronting Our Long History of Massive Inequality Thomas Piketty: Confronting Our Long History of Massive Inequality

We talked to the French economist about his new book Capital and Ideology, his thoughts on Covid-19, and more.

Mar 26, 2020 / Q&A / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Emily Nemens Talks Baseball and the Art of the Quarterly

Emily Nemens Talks Baseball and the Art of the Quarterly Emily Nemens Talks Baseball and the Art of the Quarterly

With the baseball season delayed, the new book by the editor of The Paris Review, The Cactus League, is a salve for fans.

Mar 25, 2020 / Q&A / Nawal Arjini

Reliefer

Reliefer Reliefer

Jared Kushner steps in to fix White House’s chaotic response to the pandemic.—News reports He’s tasked with devising a Middle East peace, Has other portfolios equally grand. So w…

Mar 24, 2020 / Column / Calvin Trillin

How Films Were Made in Cold War Hollywood

How Films Were Made in Cold War Hollywood How Films Were Made in Cold War Hollywood

Lillian Ross’s Picture traces the ways in which the Red Scare shaped a generation’s creative and professional compromises.

Mar 24, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Max Nelson

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

I Guess We’re All in This Together? I Guess We’re All in This Together?

Sure, things are different under coronavirus. But spending our days eye-rolling at the Trump administration will never change.

Mar 24, 2020 / Tom Tomorrow

Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery

Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery Since Emancipation, the United States Has Refused to Make Reparations for Slavery

But in 1862, the federal government doled out the 2020 equivalent of $23 million—not to the formerly enslaved but to their white enslavers.

Mar 23, 2020 / Feature / Kali Holloway

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