Books and Ideas

Former speaker of the House Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) listens during a press conference with members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party at the Cannon House Office Building on November 15, 2023.

Kevin McCarthy’s Empire of Lies Kevin McCarthy’s Empire of Lies

The former House speaker is currently spouting a wildly inaccurate take on the history of American empire.

Nov 28, 2023 / John Nichols

Close up photograph of Amber Hollibaugh looking up into camerca

Revolution? Hell Yes!  Remembering Amber Hollibaugh Revolution? Hell Yes!  Remembering Amber Hollibaugh

The writer, who died last month, spent a lifetime breaking silences around sex.

Nov 28, 2023 / Obituary / JoAnn Wypijewski

Mike Pence Ends His Presidential Campaign

Mike Pence Ends His Presidential Campaign Mike Pence Ends His Presidential Campaign

Nov 28, 2023 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Berlin, December 22, 1989.

Can the European Union Be Salvaged? Can the European Union Be Salvaged?

New books by Timothy Garton Ash and Loukas Tsoukalis document the moral and political exhaustion of the “EU” generation.

Nov 28, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Mark Mazower

“Untitled (Strike),” Dox Thrash, c. 1940.

The Radical Art of the Depression Years The Radical Art of the Depression Years

By working within the constraints of the WPA, artists like Philip Guston discovered new modes of representation and irony.

Nov 27, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hunter Himes

Nation Poetry

Disaster Exposure Disaster Exposure

Nov 27, 2023 / Poems / Daniel Borzutzky

FDR, Thanksgiving 1933.

FDR Taught Us How to Talk Politics on Thanksgiving FDR Taught Us How to Talk Politics on Thanksgiving

The 32nd president used his holiday proclamations to call for “the establishment on earth of freedom, brotherhood, and justice.”

Nov 23, 2023 / John Nichols

“The Siesta,” by Vincent van Gogh, 1889.

You Have “The Right to Be Lazy” You Have “The Right to Be Lazy”

Paul Lafargue's anti-work manifesto is newly relevant in a time when the very idea of labor is changing.

Nov 23, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Clinton Williamson

Locals and tourists walk on gangplanks through the flooded city center of Venice.

Poetry for Sinking Places and Sinking People Poetry for Sinking Places and Sinking People

Ange Mlinko’s Venice is a collection of poems about cities, ruin, and humanity’s capacity for self-destruction.

Nov 22, 2023 / Rhian Sasseen

A photo of the book cover of

Reconsidering the Indelible Legacy of the “Feminist-Critical Mother of Us All” Reconsidering the Indelible Legacy of the “Feminist-Critical Mother of Us All”

The life and times of pioneering feminist scholar Carolyn Heilbrun revealed the defining pressures, struggles, and joys of her era.

Nov 21, 2023 / Gayle Greene

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