Culture

The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans

The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans The Long and Sometimes Lost History of Trans

To borrow a phrase from the photographer and activist Samra Habib, “We have always been here”—or, at least, people somewhat like us have always been here.

Jun 28, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Stephanie Burt

A sculpture called “Anything to Say,” which features life-sized bronze figures of whistleblowers (left-right) Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning, is unveiled at Parliament Square, London, during a protest for Assange’s release from prison.

Julian Assange and Arnon Milchan: The Lopsided Scales of American Justice Julian Assange and Arnon Milchan: The Lopsided Scales of American Justice

One has boasted of espionage. The other revealed massive government wrongdoing. So why is the whistleblower in jail?

Jun 27, 2023 / James Bamford

Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his inauguration in 1933.

When FDR Took On the Supreme Court When FDR Took On the Supreme Court

The standard narrative of Roosevelt's court-packing efforts casts them as a failure. But what if they were a success?

Jun 27, 2023 / Books & the Arts / John Fabian Witt

How the Supreme Court Got This Powerful

How the Supreme Court Got This Powerful How the Supreme Court Got This Powerful

It goes all the way back to Marbury v. Madison.

Jun 27, 2023 / Stan Mack

What My Parents Taught Me About Bodily Autonomy

What My Parents Taught Me About Bodily Autonomy What My Parents Taught Me About Bodily Autonomy

I learned from an early age that honoring an individual’s wishes for their body is a sacred act.

Jun 27, 2023 / Feature / Angela Garbes

Without Apology: Abortion in Literature

Without Apology: Abortion in Literature Without Apology: Abortion in Literature

Some of the most powerful, important abortion narratives show working-class women terminating their pregnancies without regret or anguish.

Jun 26, 2023 / Feature / Edna Bonhomme

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars Don DeLillo’s Cold Wars

His 1980s novels take the story of America’s postwar years, usually seen as a triumphal rise to perpetual dominance, and converts it into one about a long and chaotic decline.

Jun 26, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Siddhartha Deb

Bookforum Logo

“The Nation” Leads the Relaunch of “Bookforum” “The Nation” Leads the Relaunch of “Bookforum”

Resurrecting a leading voice of US literary criticism, the quarterly will remain editorially independent, with the first new issue out August 2023.

Jun 22, 2023 / Press Room

The Atacama desert, 2022.

Nona Fernandez and the Black Hole of Collective Memory Nona Fernandez and the Black Hole of Collective Memory

Her book-length essay Voyager examines life after Pinochet—and the disjunctures in public remembering the era produced—through an exploration of the stars. 

Jun 22, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Amanda Paige Inman

Jimmie Durham in London, 2015.

The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham

A retrospective in Naples magnifies the mystery of the conceptual artist’s work. 

Jun 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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