Books and Ideas

“Portrait of Juan de Pareja,” by Diego Velázquez

The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja The Many Ghosts of Juan de Pareja

Through the life of the 17th-century artist, we can find an entangled history of slavery, Black figuration, and art.

Jul 11, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Rachel Hunter Himes

Chris Christie

Chris Christie Declares Chris Christie Declares

Jul 11, 2023 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Black and white photo of pallbearers carrying the coffin of Robert Kennedy

The Other Kennedy Curse The Other Kennedy Curse

Kennedy family mythology is bad history, bad politics—and perhaps as unfair to the living Kennedys as to anyone else.

Jul 11, 2023 / Column / Jeet Heer

Still from campaign ad made by an anonymous Ron DeSantis supporter.

Ron DeSantis, American Psycho Ron DeSantis, American Psycho

The Florida governor’s irony-poisoned ad uses far-right memes to sanction homophobic and transphobic violence.

Jul 10, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace

Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace Aleksandar Hemon’s Kaleidoscopic Fiction of War and Peace

While most of his studies of dislocation were set in the present, in his new novel he examines a lost past.

Jul 10, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Adam Kirsch

Elliott Abrams looking pensive

Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy Henry Kissinger, Elliott Abrams, and the Rot of American Foreign Policy

Our bipartisan elite is always willing to forgive war crimes by its made men.

Jul 7, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Orizaba, Veracruz State, Mexico.

A Dark Tour Through Fernanda Melchor’s Veracruz A Dark Tour Through Fernanda Melchor’s Veracruz

Before she was a novelist, she covered crime and human interest for Mexican magazines. A collection of her nonfiction, This Is Not Miami,shows the building blocks of her fiction.&n...

Jul 6, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Laura Adamczyk

Remembering Marvin Kitman

Remembering Marvin Kitman Remembering Marvin Kitman

He ran for president of the United States in 1964—as the candidate of Monocle magazine. 

Jul 5, 2023 / Richard Lingeman

Mario Vargas Llosa, London, 1986.

The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa The Miseducation of Mario Vargas Llosa

A recent collection, The Call of the Tribe, explains why the Peruvian writer rejected the left and embraced the thinking of Friedrich Hayek and his ilk.

Jul 5, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Jack Hanson

Scene from History of the World Part I

Our Supreme Court Reactionaries Still Fear the French Revolution Our Supreme Court Reactionaries Still Fear the French Revolution

In John Roberts’s America, it’s good to be the king.

Jul 3, 2023 / Jeet Heer

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