Cultural Criticism and Analysis

Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius

Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius Lynda Barry’s Infectious Genius

The award-winning cartoonist is not only a great artist but a wellspring of inspiration for others.

Sep 30, 2019 / Jeet Heer

Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation

Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation Kamel Daoud and the Paradoxes of Liberation

In a new collection of his political writings, the Algerian novelist contemplates the unfinished business of his country’s struggle for independence.

Sep 30, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Robyn Creswell

Making Sense of Trump’s Rise

Making Sense of Trump’s Rise Making Sense of Trump’s Rise

Three new books try to explain how we got such a massive jerk in the White House.

Sep 26, 2019 / Column / Eric Alterman

Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial?

Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial? Have Americans Become More Conspiratorial?

In their new book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum argue that a new form of conspiracy thinking is consuming our culture in dangerous and alarming ways. But is it?

Sep 16, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Sophia Rosenfeld

Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent 

Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent  Wendell Berry’s Lifelong Dissent 

At the core of both his writing and activism is the insight that we can’t imagine a harmonious future without confronting the destruction in our past.

Sep 9, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Jedediah Britton-Purdy

A Blueprint for an Anticapitalist Life

A Blueprint for an Anticapitalist Life A Blueprint for an Anticapitalist Life

In the T Fleischmann’s book-length essay, Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through, they present a theory of identity and community outside the strictures of hegemony.

Sep 4, 2019 / Becca Schuh

Richard Holbrooke and the Lost Idealism of a Generation

Richard Holbrooke and the Lost Idealism of a Generation Richard Holbrooke and the Lost Idealism of a Generation

Holbrooke’s public and personal life captures the contradictions of a cohort of liberals that came of age in the 1960s.

Aug 13, 2019 / Books & the Arts / David Klion

Philip Roth’s Great American Estate Sale

Philip Roth’s Great American Estate Sale Philip Roth’s Great American Estate Sale

The bidding is sparse, but the late author’s modest effects are revealing.

Jul 19, 2019 / Elizabeth Pochoda

‘Mad’ Magazine Told the Truth About War, Advertising, and the Media

‘Mad’ Magazine Told the Truth About War, Advertising, and the Media ‘Mad’ Magazine Told the Truth About War, Advertising, and the Media

An obituary for America’s greatest and most influential satirical magazine.

Jul 8, 2019 / Jeet Heer

Stonewall Inn interior

It Doesn’t Matter Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall It Doesn’t Matter Who Threw the First Brick at Stonewall

Infighting over ownership of the riots obscures their significance as a messy, spontaneous, diverse rebellion.

Jun 30, 2019 / Morgan M. Page

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