Books and Ideas

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

The Emperor’s New Spray Tan The Emperor’s New Spray Tan

Our orange overlord demands fealty.

May 29, 2019 / Tom Tomorrow

William vanden Heuvel

In Our Tumultuous Times, History Offers Hope In Our Tumultuous Times, History Offers Hope

A new memoir calls us to action.

May 28, 2019 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Werner Herzog’s Curious Love Letter to Mikhail Gorbachev

Werner Herzog’s Curious Love Letter to Mikhail Gorbachev Werner Herzog’s Curious Love Letter to Mikhail Gorbachev

In Herzog’s latest film, Meeting Gorbachev, we end up learning a lot more about the director than about his subject.

May 24, 2019 / Elena Goukassian

No Public Restrooms Sign

The Politics of Going to the Bathroom The Politics of Going to the Bathroom

Access to adequate restrooms is a fundamental necessity for everyone, but it’s harder to come by the less structural power you have.

May 23, 2019 / Natalie Shure

Morgan Bassichis

Morgan Bassichis’s Haunted American Songbook Morgan Bassichis’s Haunted American Songbook

The performer’s work presents a riotous vision of what an intergenerational left might look like.

May 23, 2019 / Ari M. Brostoff

Neither Comic nor Profound: The Vagaries of ‘kaddish.com’

Neither Comic nor Profound: The Vagaries of ‘kaddish.com’ Neither Comic nor Profound: The Vagaries of ‘kaddish.com’

Nathan Englander's third novel tries to satirize unthinking religiosity, lazy secularism, and the nascent gig economy—but fails to impress.

May 22, 2019 / Nathan Goldman

Tom Tomorrow cartoon

Masters of the Uterus Masters of the Uterus

Conservative men celebrate the restoration of their natural role.

May 21, 2019 / Tom Tomorrow

Identity Evropa

Why Fascists Storm Bookstores Why Fascists Storm Bookstores

A spate of attacks from DC to Berkeley show how far the right will go to shut down free expression.  

May 20, 2019 / Elizabeth King

Sophie Lewis

Want to Dismantle Capitalism? Abolish the Family Want to Dismantle Capitalism? Abolish the Family

Feminist theorist Sophie Lewis’s new book looks at how rethinking pregnancy and the idea of family as forms of labor is central to emancipatory politics.

May 16, 2019 / Q&A / Rosemarie Ho

Natasha Lennard

What Is Anti-Fascism? What Is Anti-Fascism?

A Q&A with Natasha Lennard.

May 15, 2019 / Q&A / Ari M. Brostoff

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