Cultural Criticism and Analysis

Elon Musk and his Twitter profile.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Twitter Files? Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Twitter Files?

Just because the mainstream media decided to ignore them doesn’t mean the files aren’t newsworthy—or important.

Dec 20, 2022 / Ross Barkan

Reading Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” in the Age of Ron DeSantis

Reading Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” in the Age of Ron DeSantis Reading Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” in the Age of Ron DeSantis

More than 30 years after it was published, the seminal queer theory text still has some things to say.

Dec 14, 2022 / Feature / Naomi Gordon-Loebl

AI Comes for the Writers

AI Comes for the Writers AI Comes for the Writers

It's long been assumed that truck drivers' jobs would be first on the chopping block. Not anymore.

Dec 12, 2022 / McCaffrey Blauner

The 1990s Were Meant to Be the End of History—Instead They Birthed the Future

The 1990s Were Meant to Be the End of History—Instead They Birthed the Future The 1990s Were Meant to Be the End of History—Instead They Birthed the Future

Welcome to The Nation’s '90s issue, a heady romp through the decade that set the stage for the present moment.

Dec 12, 2022 / Lizzy Ratner, Regina Mahone, Ludwig Hurtado, and Alana Pockros

Mall of America, 1992.

The Rise and Fall of the Mall The Rise and Fall of the Mall

Alexandra Lange's Meet Me by the Fountain recovers the forgotten past and the still hopeful future of the American shopping mall.

Dec 12, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Melvin Backman

A panel from Love That Bunch, by Aline Kominsky-Crumb

The Queen of Candor: Aline Kominsky-Crumb 1948–2022 The Queen of Candor: Aline Kominsky-Crumb 1948–2022

Her fearless autobiographical stories revolutionized cartooning.

Dec 5, 2022 / Obituary / Jeet Heer

Staughton Lynd at peace march

Staughton Lynd Never Lost the Courage of His Convictions Staughton Lynd Never Lost the Courage of His Convictions

The historian and activist, who died last month, paid a steep price for his commitments. Yet he managed to find a way to keep agitating, and keep writing, while always remaining tr...

Dec 5, 2022 / Joshua Freeman

The statue of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee is removed

The Question of the Offensive Monument The Question of the Offensive Monument

What do we lose by simply removing monuments? Robert Bevan attempts to answer that question in a recent book, Monumental Lies.

Dec 5, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Erin L. Thompson

Kanye West in California

Kanye West, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the Mainstreaming of Nazism Kanye West, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the Mainstreaming of Nazism

MAGA and cowardly Republicans are whitewashing Hitler fans.

Dec 2, 2022 / Jeet Heer

The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem

The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem The Democrats Have a Crypto Problem

The high costs of taking money from Sam Bankman-Fried.

Nov 18, 2022 / Jeet Heer

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