Books and Ideas

The billionaire Elon Musk bought 9 percent of Twitter

Musk Takes Over Twitter Musk Takes Over Twitter

Nov 15, 2022 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Ian McEwan’s 20th Century

Ian McEwan’s 20th Century Ian McEwan’s 20th Century

In his new novel, McEwan ruefully looks back at a Britain that no longer exists.

Nov 14, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Sarah Chihaya

Are Americans Bad at Reading?

Are Americans Bad at Reading? Are Americans Bad at Reading?

Novelist Elaine Castillo’s essays reflect on reading as an ethical act and the moral politics of literature in the US.

Nov 10, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Lily Meyer

Nation Poetry

Kehua / I used to want to be the bait that caught Te Ika Kehua / I used to want to be the bait that caught Te Ika

  I lost my nerve for spirits when I was sixteen. Spent that whole spring playing chicken and betraying my grandparents’ liquor cabinets for homies who were too cool to say th…

Nov 10, 2022 / Poems / Tayi Tibble

Police line outside the Pelosi home in San Francisc

After the Attack on Paul Pelosi, the GOP Again Is the Party of No Shame After the Attack on Paul Pelosi, the GOP Again Is the Party of No Shame

As recently as 2006, Republicans could take an internal political scandal seriously. Not anymore.

Nov 10, 2022 / Chris Lehmann

The Problem With “Jihad, Rehab” Isn’t Filmmaker Meg Smaker’s Color or Religion

The Problem With “Jihad, Rehab” Isn’t Filmmaker Meg Smaker’s Color or Religion The Problem With “Jihad, Rehab” Isn’t Filmmaker Meg Smaker’s Color or Religion

The idea that a white woman cannot make a film about non-white men is absurd. But as “Meg,” the film’s narrator, her voice is the voice of the cop.

Nov 7, 2022 / Moustafa Bayoumi

The Obscured and Forgotten History of Black Communist Women

The Obscured and Forgotten History of Black Communist Women The Obscured and Forgotten History of Black Communist Women

A new anthology edited by Charisse Burden-Stelly and Jodi Dean highlights the legacy and enduring relevance of Black communist women’s political activism in the early 20th century.

Nov 7, 2022 / Q&A / Morgan Forde

How Saidiya Hartman Changed the Study of Black Life

How Saidiya Hartman Changed the Study of Black Life How Saidiya Hartman Changed the Study of Black Life

A conversation with writer about her pathbreaking book Scenes of Subjection and how our understanding of race has changed in the last two decades. 

Nov 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques

Mike Davis.

¡Compañero Mike Davis, Presente! ¡Compañero Mike Davis, Presente!

A requiem for a friend who embodied the commitment to the marriage of word and deed.

Nov 2, 2022 / Roberto Lovato

The Civil War’s Economic Shadow

The Civil War’s Economic Shadow The Civil War’s Economic Shadow

To finance the war, the Union had to turn to the banks, and with lasting consequences.

Nov 2, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie McCurry

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