Cultural Criticism and Analysis

Illustration from “The Ship That Sailed to Mars,” by William M. Timlin.

The Radical World-making of Joanna Russ The Radical World-making of Joanna Russ

In her science fiction, the novelist offered not only an astringent critiques of the present but also bold visions of the future.

May 13, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie Burt

Left: Nazi propaganda poster from the early 1940s depicts Jews as conspiring to provoke a war with Germany. Right: Just as the Nazis recycled medieval antisemitic tropes, this 21st-century update, featured in a “Jerusalem Post” story on vaccine resistance, incorporates the visual vocabulary of the Nazi era.

Antisemitism, Then and Now: A Guide for the Perplexed Antisemitism, Then and Now: A Guide for the Perplexed

A short history of the origins, uses, and abuses of a long hatred.

May 10, 2024 / Feature / Omer Bartov

Vinson Cunningham’s Searching Novel of Faith and Politics

Vinson Cunningham’s Searching Novel of Faith and Politics Vinson Cunningham’s Searching Novel of Faith and Politics

In Great Expectations, Cunningham examines the hope and aspirations of the Obama generation.

May 8, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Tope Folarin

Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom

Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom Nell Irvin Painter’s Chronicles of Freedom

A new career-spanning book offers a portrait of Painter’s career as a historian, essayist, and most recently visual artist.

May 7, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Elias Rodriques

Leslie Jamison and the Travails of Millennial Divorce

Leslie Jamison and the Travails of Millennial Divorce Leslie Jamison and the Travails of Millennial Divorce

In her new book, the novelist and essayist examines life before and after marriage.

May 7, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Edna Bonhomme

Peggy Noonan

Campus Protesters Were Right to Spurn Peggy Noonan, Emblem of Media Obtuseness Campus Protesters Were Right to Spurn Peggy Noonan, Emblem of Media Obtuseness

Our narcissistic media elite doesn’t understand why their lies have made young people wary.

May 6, 2024 / Jeet Heer

A Left Between Victory and Defeat

A Left Between Victory and Defeat A Left Between Victory and Defeat

How can the left escape burning out?

May 6, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Sam Adler-Bell

Jack Conroy

Jack Conroy and the Lost Era of Proletarian Literature Jack Conroy and the Lost Era of Proletarian Literature

In the midst of the Depression, Conroy helped encourage a new generation of working-class writers.

Apr 30, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Devin Thomas O’Shea

The Use of “Attention Capture” Technologies in Our Classrooms Has Created a Crisis 

The Use of “Attention Capture” Technologies in Our Classrooms Has Created a Crisis  The Use of “Attention Capture” Technologies in Our Classrooms Has Created a Crisis 

We have a choice: We can allow Big Tech to solve the problem with invasive brain technology. Or we can let educators teach students how to pay attention. 

Apr 22, 2024 / Jac Mullen

Young boy with Hamas militants

Where Is the Leftist Critique of Hamas? Where Is the Leftist Critique of Hamas?

What is the view of most of the organizations and activists in the Palestinian solidarity movement about Hamas? The answer remains unclear—and rarely talked about.

Apr 17, 2024 / Hillel Schenker

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