Books and Ideas

The World John von Neumann Built

The World John von Neumann Built The World John von Neumann Built

Game theory, computers, the atom bomb—these are just a few of things von Neumann played a role in developing, changing the 20th century for better and worse.

Nov 28, 2022 / Books & the Arts / David Nirenberg

Staughton Lynd, 1966

Staughton Lynd’s Radicalism From Below Staughton Lynd’s Radicalism From Below

The historian and activist dedicated his life to showing how, and helping, working people not only imagine but build a better world.

Nov 23, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Marcus Rediker

Nation Poetry

A Suit or a Suitcase A Suit or a Suitcase

  You ask what I’ll miss about this life. Everything but cruelty, I think. But you want one specific thing, so here—I’ll miss my body. I’ll miss its companionship, how it’s tr…

Nov 23, 2022 / Poems / Maggie Smith

The Malaise, Mess, and Art of Black Millennial Womanhood

The Malaise, Mess, and Art of Black Millennial Womanhood The Malaise, Mess, and Art of Black Millennial Womanhood

Chantal V. Johnson's debut novel typifies an emerging genre in fiction, one that interrogates the intimate and creative life of Black cosmopolitan women.

Nov 23, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Marina Magloire

Inside the Dreams of Ling Ma

Inside the Dreams of Ling Ma Inside the Dreams of Ling Ma

The stories in her collection Bliss Montage tackle the troubles of the real world by transporting us to the realm between sleep and waking life.

Nov 22, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard

A Fragmentary History of California

A Fragmentary History of California A Fragmentary History of California

Ashton Politanoff's fascinating You'll Like it Here, a hybrid book on the Golden State in the 20th century, looks at the novelistic details of everyday life.

Nov 21, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Dustin Illingworth

The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem

The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem

The high costs of taking money from Sam Bankman-Fried.

Nov 18, 2022 / Jeet Heer

Lyle Jeremy Rubin

How a Defender of American Empire Became a Dissenter How a Defender of American Empire Became a Dissenter

A conversation with Lyle Jeremy Rubin about the complicated ideology of the marine corps, America's obsession with war, and his new memoir Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body.  

Nov 17, 2022 / Q&A / Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins

Nation Poetry

The Average Driver Will Be in a Car Accident Once Every Eighteen Years The Average Driver Will Be in a Car Accident Once Every Eighteen Years

  Moonship comes when I’m on the road, A/C on, music on, the inside still in, then—zam—wind, unshielded crescents of moon, the body gone, tearing through space at 60 miles per…

Nov 17, 2022 / Poems / Nomi Stone

Michelle de Kretser’s Unsettled Australia

Michelle de Kretser’s Unsettled Australia Michelle de Kretser’s Unsettled Australia

Her novels examine how migration and globalization have changed the country's identity and relation to the rest of the world.

Nov 16, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Nawal Arjini

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