Books and Ideas

Bad Gays cover, with authors

Learning From the “Bad Gays” of History Learning From the “Bad Gays” of History

A conversation with Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller about queer crooks, villains, and anti-heros, and what we might learn from the sinister side of gay politics.

Oct 26, 2022 / Q&A / Max Fox

Mike Davis.

Mike Davis: 1946–2022 Mike Davis: 1946–2022

A brilliant radical reporter with a novelist’s eye and a historian’s memory.

Oct 25, 2022 / Obituary / Jon Wiener

Indiana University professor Ross Gay

Ross Gay on the Labor of “Inciting Joy” Ross Gay on the Labor of “Inciting Joy”

A conversation with the poet Ross Gay about Inciting Joy, an exploration of joy as a critical emotion that “gets us to love, as a practice of survival."

Oct 25, 2022 / Q&A / Sara Franklin

The Hidden Politics of Smell

The Hidden Politics of Smell The Hidden Politics of Smell

In Sensorium, a book by the perfumer Tanaïs, tells a deeply personal story of scent and the role it played in colonial histories.

Oct 25, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Naib Mian

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Speaks!

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Speaks! Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Speaks!

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, former NBA star and activist Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf joins the show to talk about his new book.

Oct 24, 2022 / Podcast / Dave Zirin

Death mark of the poet John Donne

The Enigma of John Donne The Enigma of John Donne

Racy, profane, and spiritual, the Metaphysical poet has remained a mystery to generations of readers. 

Oct 24, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Zachary Fine

Robin D.G. Kelley

Redefining Freedom With Robin Kelley Redefining Freedom With Robin Kelley

A conversation with the historian about the 20th-anniversary of his seminal book Freedom Dreams, how the meaning of freedom has changed in the intervening years, the reparations de...

Oct 24, 2022 / Q&A / Omari Weekes

Outside a supermarket, a masked essential worker wearing a blue hazmat suit holds a stop sign.

The Death Eaters: Covid in the Liberal Imagination The Death Eaters: Covid in the Liberal Imagination

A call to rescue public health from the dead hand of neutrality.

Oct 20, 2022 / Gregg Gonsalves

The Past, Present, and Future of the Labor Movement

The Past, Present, and Future of the Labor Movement The Past, Present, and Future of the Labor Movement

Kim Kelly’s survey of labor organizing in America—telling the stories of workers on the margins, from miners to sex workers—offers hope and inspiration for working-class victories ...

Oct 20, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Nick Juravich

Chris Lehmann on Republican Plans for 2023, Plus Adam Hochschild on Repression in WWI America

Chris Lehmann on Republican Plans for 2023, Plus Adam Hochschild on Repression in WWI America Chris Lehmann on Republican Plans for 2023, Plus Adam Hochschild on Repression in WWI America

On this week’s episode of Start Making Sense, discussions on the GOP’s “Commitment to America” and how the First World War threatened democracy. 

Oct 20, 2022 / Podcast / Jon Wiener and Start Making Sense

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