Books and Ideas

Statue of Clarice Lispector at Leme Beach in Rio de Janeiro, 2016.

Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology Clarice Lispector’s Cosmology

To understand the philosophical dimensions of her fiction you must read her 1961 novel The Apple in the Dark.

Jul 24, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Shaj Mathew

Guests walk along the beach near the Botel pool on Fire Island in Long Island, New York, 1976.

The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires The Cruel Genius of Robert Plunket’s Gay Satires

His 1992 novel Love Junkie might be one of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era.

Jul 23, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wolf

In a 1881 political cartoon, Charles Julius Guiteau approaches President Garfield at the White House to ask for a diplomatic post. Guiteau assassinated Garfield in 1881.

Why Are Presidential Assassins Such Sad Sacks? Why Are Presidential Assassins Such Sad Sacks?

What would-be killers of the US commander in chief have in common is that they aren’t fervent ideologues; they’re outcasts.

Jul 22, 2024 / Zack Budryk

Reflected on a mirror, then–Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event to unveil a report with analysis related to Recovery Act investments in innovation, science, and technology on August 24, 2010, at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC.

The Democrats Have a Two-Biden Problem The Democrats Have a Two-Biden Problem

And so does the president. As he decides his future, Joe Biden has to come to terms with the war within himself.

Jul 19, 2024 / Jeet Heer

The first family to move into the Levittown development in New York, 1947.

Can You Put a Dollar Amount on White Privilege? Can You Put a Dollar Amount on White Privilege?

Tracie McMillan’s The White Bonus attempts to quantify the literal cost of racism in America.

Jul 18, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Kristen Martin

Republican vice presidential candidate and US Senator J.D. Vance speaks to Fox News anchor Sean Hannity on the first day of the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

J.D. Vance, a Born-Again Trumpist, Offers a Political Jackpot for Democrats J.D. Vance, a Born-Again Trumpist, Offers a Political Jackpot for Democrats

Trump’s running mate has a history of embracing rancid positions to rise to the top.

Jul 17, 2024 / Jeet Heer

A figure looks at the dynamic map board showing power distribution through California’s electrical grids in the control center of the California Independent System Operator, 2004.

The World’s Problems Explained in One Issue: Electricity The World’s Problems Explained in One Issue: Electricity

Brett Christophers’s account of the market-induced failure to transition to renewables is his latest entry in a series of books demystifying a multi-pronged global crisis.

Jul 17, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Trevor Jackson

The first family to move into the Levittown development in New York, 1947.

The Planetary Vision of Soviet Russia’s Great Modernist Novel The Planetary Vision of Soviet Russia’s Great Modernist Novel

Andrey Platonov’s masterpiece Chevengur imagined a politics of solidarity that placed at its center the health of the planet.

Jul 16, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Maria Chehonadskih

In Poetry’s Church

In Poetry’s Church In Poetry’s Church

More than a half century of the Poetry Project

Jul 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sasha Frere-Jones

Frederick Douglass

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass

This is the perfect time to read the entirety of Frederick Douglass’s famous speech, and not merely because of the date on the calendar.

Jul 4, 2024 / Dave Zirin

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