Books and Ideas

Eugene Debs at the US Penitentiary in Atlanta

The Crusade Against Civil Liberties During World War I The Crusade Against Civil Liberties During World War I

Adam Hochschild’s latest book, American Midnight, examines a dark era in US history in which Woodrow Wilson and his administration went to war at home as well as abroad. 

Feb 7, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Eric Foner

The Immense Irony of the GOP’s Anti-Socialism Vote

The Immense Irony of the GOP’s Anti-Socialism Vote The Immense Irony of the GOP’s Anti-Socialism Vote

Republicans are crowing over their resolution denouncing socialism, but their next presidential candidate will be chosen in a city that socialism built.

Feb 6, 2023 / John Nichols

Pope Francis and President Felix Tshiekedi address a crowd

The Pope Delivers a Clear Message in the Democratic Republic of Congo The Pope Delivers a Clear Message in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Francis’s visit sought to address violence and corruption in the Central African state. The violent and the corrupt lined up for an audience.

Feb 6, 2023 / Hugh Kinsella Cunningham and Nicolas Niarchos

Flowers and candles at a memorial outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California.

Huu Can Tran’s American Dream Huu Can Tran’s American Dream

The Monterey Park shooter lost his wife and his home. But one totem of assimilation remained within easy reach.

Feb 6, 2023 / Mari Uyehara

The Radicalization of Édouard Louis

The Radicalization of Édouard Louis The Radicalization of Édouard Louis

Two new books by the French novelist mark a political turn in his writing.

Feb 6, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Tara K. Menon

Josh Hawley holding pencil in front of microphone

The GOP’s Phony Class War The GOP’s Phony Class War

Racist resentment plus plutocratic economics don’t equal a “working-class party.”

Feb 3, 2023 / Jeet Heer

Deference to Religion Has No Place in Higher Education

Deference to Religion Has No Place in Higher Education Deference to Religion Has No Place in Higher Education

The controversy at Hamline over a painting of Muhammad shown in an art class demonstrates the danger of prioritizing religious beliefs over academic freedom.

Feb 2, 2023 / Column / Katha Pollitt

Ginza at Night by Franklin McMahon

A Translator in Tokyo, or: A Language Love Story A Translator in Tokyo, or: A Language Love Story

Polly Barton's memoir Fifty Sounds documents the intimacy of the act of translation and the process of learning a new language.

Feb 2, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Max Norman

Children read books in a public library near Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1947.

Bullying Librarians Is for Know-Nothings Bullying Librarians Is for Know-Nothings

Why the GOP’s war on books is ripe for cancellation. 

Jan 31, 2023 / Katrina vanden Heuvel

Members of the League of Nations looking over their shoulders during an assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, 1920

The Long, Bitter History of Globalism The Long, Bitter History of Globalism

A conversation with Tara Zahra about the early-20th-century origins of globalism, how debates over a globalized world have morphed across a century, and her new book, Against the W...

Jan 31, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

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