Culture

A Silicon Valley Bank office is seen in Tempe, Arizona, on March 14, 2023. - With hindsight, there were warning signs ahead of last week's spectacular collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, missed not only by investors, but by bank regulators. Just why the oversight failed remained a hot question among banking experts, with some focusing on the weakness of US rules. (Photo by REBECCA NOBLE / AFP) (Photo by REBECCA NOBLE/AFP via Getty Images)

A Death in the Valley: What the End of SVB Reveals About VC Class Solidarity A Death in the Valley: What the End of SVB Reveals About VC Class Solidarity

With the banking system sitting on $620 billion in paper (unrealized) losses, this saga may be far from over.

Mar 17, 2023 / Doug Henwood

Beautiful, Lonely, and Degraded: Gavin Lambert’s LA

Beautiful, Lonely, and Degraded: Gavin Lambert’s LA Beautiful, Lonely, and Degraded: Gavin Lambert’s LA

In his 1979 novel The Goodby People, he finds a picturesque city defined by its sense of disconnection and immense sadness.

Mar 16, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Kate Wolf

The Obscene Invention of California Capitalism

The Obscene Invention of California Capitalism The Obscene Invention of California Capitalism

A conversation with Malcolm Harris about his new history of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, the West Coast's settler ideology, and recent turbulence in the world of tech.

Mar 15, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Emma Hager

James Ensor's “L'Intrigue,” 1890

Down and Out in Paris With Rainer Maria Rilke Down and Out in Paris With Rainer Maria Rilke

In The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, the German poet’s only novel, a young artist contends with the contradictions of urban experience and the dream of pastoral life 

Mar 14, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Ratik Asokan

The Creative, Collective, Queer Project of Raving

The Creative, Collective, Queer Project of Raving The Creative, Collective, Queer Project of Raving

In an interview, McKenzie Wark offers insight on the rave as utopia, breaking through gender dysphoria, and her newest work of auto-theory.

Mar 14, 2023 / Q&A / Zoë Beery and Geoffrey Mak

Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex

Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex

Having a personal aesthetic at home has become financially detrimental.

Mar 13, 2023 / Kate Wagner

A police officer stands beside an automobile involved in an accident,

The Reckless History of the Automobile The Reckless History of the Automobile

In The Car, Bryan Appleyard sets out to celebrate the freedom these vehicles granted. But what if they were a dangerous technology from the start?

Mar 13, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Paris Marx

Students during a Defend New College protest in Sarasota, Florida, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023.

Ron DeSantis Is Destroying Florida’s New College Just Because He Can Ron DeSantis Is Destroying Florida’s New College Just Because He Can

The worst thing is, he doesn’t even understand the value of what he’s breaking.

Mar 10, 2023 / Michael Rothbaum

Rock Steady: How the Former Oscars Host Spent a Year Plotting His Slap Back

Rock Steady: How the Former Oscars Host Spent a Year Plotting His Slap Back Rock Steady: How the Former Oscars Host Spent a Year Plotting His Slap Back

Chris Rock revives the furor over The Slap on the eve of the 2023 Oscars. 

Mar 9, 2023 / Ben Schwartz

Daniel Giménez Cacho as Silverio in Bardo

The Many Labyrinths of Alejandro Iñarritu’s Oscar-Nominated “Bardo” The Many Labyrinths of Alejandro Iñarritu’s Oscar-Nominated “Bardo”

Disjointed, unnerving, and divisive, Bardo challenges its viewers to make sense of it.

Mar 9, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Ilan Stavans

x