The Battle Hymn of the War on Poverty The Battle Hymn of the War on Poverty
How the call to empathy helped mobilize a nation.
Jan 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Sasha Abramsky
Reading Melville in Post-9/11 America Reading Melville in Post-9/11 America
The author's half-forgotten masterpiece, Benito Cereno, provides fascinating insight into issues of slavery, freedom, individualism—and Islamophobia.
Jan 7, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Greg Grandin
Melville and the Language of Denial Melville and the Language of Denial
The events behind his story Benito Cereno are more than two centuries old, but the deceptions of racial inferiority that Melville exposes resonate today.
Jan 7, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Toni Morrison
What Bill de Blasio Can Learn From New York City’s Last Radical Mayor What Bill de Blasio Can Learn From New York City’s Last Radical Mayor
Fiorello La Guardia also took office in a time of crisis—and he was open to new ideas and bold reforms.
Jan 7, 2014 / Books & the Arts / D.D. Guttenplan
This Week in ‘Nation’ History: How We Helped Start the ‘Melville Revival’ of the 1920s This Week in ‘Nation’ History: How We Helped Start the ‘Melville Revival’ of the 1920s
An article in our pages in 1919 helped rescue the long-deceased scribe from obscurity and secured him a prominent place in the American canon.
Jan 4, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Memory Politics: On ‘Franco’s Crypt’ Memory Politics: On ‘Franco’s Crypt’
To what extent does Franco’s rule still dictate contemporary Spanish culture?
Dec 30, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Jonathan Blitzer
Who Didn’t Kill JFK? Who Didn’t Kill JFK?
Kennedy’s presidency and assassination seem more elusive as the decades pass.
Dec 18, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Beverly Gage
Thanksgiving Forty Years Ago: There but for the Grace… Thanksgiving Forty Years Ago: There but for the Grace…
It’s bad out there on Thanksgiving this year. A remembrance: in 1973, it was worse.
Nov 28, 2013 / Rick Perlstein
This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Tantalizing Mockery of Thanksgiving, 1931 This Week in ‘Nation’ History: The Tantalizing Mockery of Thanksgiving, 1931
President Hoover's holiday proclamation was offensive to millions of poor and unemployed Americans, our 'Drifter' columnist wrote.
Nov 23, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Katrina vanden Heuvel
Kennedy Week: The Myth of Camelot and the Dangers of Sycophantic Consensus Journalism Kennedy Week: The Myth of Camelot and the Dangers of Sycophantic Consensus Journalism
How a favor Teddy White did for Jackie Kennedy helps explain David Broder and Politico.
Nov 23, 2013 / Rick Perlstein