Books and Ideas

I.B. Singer’s Language of Everyday Life

I.B. Singer’s Language of Everyday Life I.B. Singer’s Language of Everyday Life

By choosing to write in Yiddish rather than Hebrew, the young Singer declared his allegiance to the here and now rather than a biblical past or a Zionist future.

Oct 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Adam Kirsch

Movie poster with the word Metropolis is red letters

The Political Lessons of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” The Political Lessons of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”

The 1927 film raises the question, “Who will mediate between our head and our hands?”

Oct 4, 2022 / Column / David Bromwich

A Ukrainian soldier in the Kupiansk, a recaptured frontline city in the Kharkiv region.

A Farewell to Arms A Farewell to Arms

(Draft-age Russian male version)

Oct 4, 2022 / Column / Calvin Trillin

The Mixtapes of Hua Hsu

The Mixtapes of Hua Hsu The Mixtapes of Hua Hsu

In his new memoir, Stay True, the New Yorker critic offers a coming-of-age story that doubles as a tale about friendship, music, and the politics of knowing oneself.

Oct 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Summer Kim Lee

Olga Tokarczuk’s Panoramic Novel of Jewish Poland

Olga Tokarczuk’s Panoramic Novel of Jewish Poland Olga Tokarczuk’s Panoramic Novel of Jewish Poland

A work defined by its narrative elasticity, The Books of Jacob tells the story of a false messiah not through his eyes but through the vibrant and now lost world around him.

Oct 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Ilan Stavans

President Barack Obama and then-President-elect Donald Trump smile before the 2017 inauguration.

Off the Record: Barack Obama on Donald Trump Off the Record: Barack Obama on Donald Trump

A newly declassified press conference shows the former president’s prescience—and his blind spots.

Oct 3, 2022 / Jeet Heer

What We Can Learn From Watergate

What We Can Learn From Watergate What We Can Learn From Watergate

Fifty years ago, we tried to make the presidency more accountable. It wasn’t enough to secure democracy.

Oct 3, 2022 / Robert L. Borosage

Pankaj Mishra’s Novel of Intellectuals and Influencers

Pankaj Mishra’s Novel of Intellectuals and Influencers Pankaj Mishra’s Novel of Intellectuals and Influencers

Mishra’s first work of fiction in over a decade examines how ideas circulate in an age of social media and “ideas festivals.”

Oct 3, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson

Thulani Davis’s Freedom Visions

Thulani Davis’s Freedom Visions Thulani Davis’s Freedom Visions

Her new history of the Civil War and Reconstruction examines the ways in which Black Americans formed networks of self-reliance in their pursuit of emancipation.

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

Frank Watkins and Jesse Jackson.

Remembering Frank Watkins, Longtime Lieutenant to Jesse Jackson Remembering Frank Watkins, Longtime Lieutenant to Jesse Jackson

Though he preferred to work behind the scenes, Watkins was a crucial force in opening the Democratic Party to Black leadership—and pulling it to the left.

Sep 30, 2022 / Kevin Alexander Gray

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