Books and Ideas

British colonials

The British Empire’s Worldwide Devastation The British Empire’s Worldwide Devastation

Caroline Elkins’s new history of the British Empire is a damning account of its violent crimes against its subjects. 

May 16, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Howard W. French

A man in a suit stands at a lectern

“The New York Times” Has Badly Lost Its Bearings “The New York Times” Has Badly Lost Its Bearings

Its next editor, Joe Kahn, needs to get it back on course.

May 13, 2022 / Dan Froomkin

Midge Decter speaking a lectern

Farewell to Midge Decter, the Bigot on the Beach Farewell to Midge Decter, the Bigot on the Beach

The obituaries for the founding mother of neoconservatism fail to give a sense of how vile her opinions really were.

May 13, 2022 / Jeet Heer

Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist

Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist Florine Stettheimer, Insider Artist

Barbara Bloemink’s biography paints a complicated picture of an artist whose work both celebrated and critiqued the upper echelons of early-20th-century cultural life.

May 12, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Max Pearl

Phil Klay, Uncertain Ground

Civic Engagement In an Age of Perpetual War Civic Engagement In an Age of Perpetual War

A conversation with Phil Klay about his new book Uncertain Ground and the moral imperatives and ambiguities of civilian life amidst constant conflict.

May 11, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Noah Flora

United States to Refugees: Don’t Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor!

United States to Refugees: Don’t Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor! United States to Refugees: Don’t Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor!

Putting out the welcome mat for white Christians—while slamming the door in the faces of other migrants—is an American tradition.

May 9, 2022 / Feature / David Nasaw

Black Flame Hunters

Jazz Fest Is Back. Let’s Dance. (But It’s Complicated.) Jazz Fest Is Back. Let’s Dance. (But It’s Complicated.)

Beyond the confines of a beloved annual event, the future of live music in New Orleans remains unsettled.

May 6, 2022 / Larry Blumenfeld

Red Planet Books and Comics in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Don’t Fear a Red Planet: The Story of the World’s Only Native Comic Shop Don’t Fear a Red Planet: The Story of the World’s Only Native Comic Shop

Lee Francis IV turned an empty hair salon into a space for “Indigenerds” to let their imaginations run wild.

May 4, 2022 / Cecilia Nowell

An Intimate History of Hong Kong

An Intimate History of Hong Kong An Intimate History of Hong Kong

A conversation with Karen Cheung about her memoir The Impossible City, the nascent Hong Kong literary tradition, and understanding a period of upheaval through art and cultural exp...

May 4, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Rosemarie Ho

Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance

Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance Nijinska’s Revolutionary Vision of Dance

Lynn Garafola’s biography of the dancer and choreographer charts her globetrotting life and radical art. 

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

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