Books and Ideas

Former general and Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo during his trial.

The Hypocrisies of International Justice The Hypocrisies of International Justice

A recent history revisits the Tokyo trial.

Sep 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Colin Jones

The Brooklyn Potluck That Helped Black Literature Flourish

The Brooklyn Potluck That Helped Black Literature Flourish The Brooklyn Potluck That Helped Black Literature Flourish

In Courtney Thorsson's cultural history The Sisterhood, she details how intimate gatherings played a role in the golden age of Black women's writing.

Sep 17, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Marina Magloire

Nation Poetry

[“I knew almost for certain...”] [“I knew almost for certain...”]

Sep 16, 2024 / Poems / Vasyl Stus

A man and a woman choose from an array of credit cards and dollar banknotes, 1979.

The Age of Public Austerity and Private Luxury The Age of Public Austerity and Private Luxury

A conversation with Melinda Cooper about the recent history of neoliberalism and her new book Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance.

Sep 12, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Kate Yoon

How Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon

How Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon How Historical Fiction Redefined the Literary Canon

In contemporary publishing, novels fixated on the past rather than the present have garnered the most attention and prestige.

Sep 11, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Alexander Manshel

View of the US-Mexico border wall in Otay Mesa, California, 2021.

Imagining a World of Open Borders Imagining a World of Open Borders

John Washington’s compelling new book lays out the case for abolishing the hellish idea of the border.

Sep 10, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Jake Romm

The Enduring Influence of Marx’s Masterpiece

The Enduring Influence of Marx’s Masterpiece The Enduring Influence of Marx’s Masterpiece

No book has done more than Capital to explain the way the world works.

Sep 9, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Wendy Brown

A screenshot from a 2011 interview with James C. Scott.

James C. Scott, the Ambivalent Anarchist James C. Scott, the Ambivalent Anarchist

The radical anthropologist offered not only incisive studies of the state but also a vision of what life looked like beyond it.

Sep 5, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Ben Mauk

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, enjoy music by members of the marching band at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Georgia, August 28, 2024, as they travel across the state on a two-day campaign bus tour.

The Democrats Are Finally Running a Teacher. What Took Them So Long? The Democrats Are Finally Running a Teacher. What Took Them So Long?

After decades of serving as a punching bag for the party’s neoliberals, public schools and the people who work in them are back in fashion.

Sep 3, 2024 / Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider

Assassination Nation

Assassination Nation Assassination Nation

The Nation magazine was founded in the startled wake of Abraham Lincoln’s murder—the first presidential assassination in the country. It wouldn’t be the last.

Sep 3, 2024 / Richard Kreitner

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