Language Arts

The Man Who Knew Almost Everything

The Man Who Knew Almost Everything The Man Who Knew Almost Everything

Inside the great social historian Eric Hobsbawm there was an aesthete waiting to come out.

Nov 12, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Ramachandra Guha

Behind the Storm

Behind the Storm Behind the Storm

Was World War I the outcome of elite machinations?

Nov 12, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Tara Zahra

Roman Holidays

Roman Holidays Roman Holidays

Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty; Alexander Sokurov’s Faust; Wladyslaw Pasikowski’s Aftermath

Nov 12, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Get Happy!!

Get Happy!! Get Happy!!

For Margaret Thatcher as for today’s happiness industry, there is no such thing as society.

Nov 6, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Jackson Lears

The Seafarer The Seafarer

Stories of shipwreck and drift are Hollywood’s new allegories of national ruin.

Nov 6, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Clover

China U.

China U. China U.

Confucius Institutes censor political discussions and restrain the free exchange of ideas. Why, then, do American universities sponsor them?

Oct 30, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Marshall Sahlins

Shelf Life

Shelf Life Shelf Life

Emily Brady’s Humboldt explains why the legalization of pot could cause the biggest economic bust in California’s history.

Oct 30, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Kate Murphy

History’s Sinkhole

History’s Sinkhole History’s Sinkhole

How did the US-Mexican border become the place where the American past chokes on itself?

Oct 22, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Greg Grandin

Jim Crow II

Jim Crow II Jim Crow II

A history of the fight for voting rights and the movement to restrict them once again.

Oct 22, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Ari Berman

Sinners

Sinners Sinners

Jia Zhangke’s Touch of Sin, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, and other highs (and lows) from the New York Film Festival.

Oct 22, 2013 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

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