Archive

The Word as Image: On “How to Read Islamic Calligraphy”
Emily Neumeier reviews "How to Read Islamic Calligraphy," a recent book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and curator Maryam D. Ekhtiar.
Emily NeumeierJan 22, 2020
Theorizing Queer Before Queer Theory
Marion Thain on Dustin Friedman’s new study of queerness in the Victorian era, before queer theory or, really, any clear account of queer identity.
Marion ThainJan 22, 2020
- Gender & Sexuality
It’s Between Us: Lukas Bärfuss’s Georg Büchner Prize Acceptance Speech
Tess Lewis translates Swiss author Lukas Bärfuss’s Georg Büchner Prize acceptance speech.
Lukas Bärfuss, Tess LewisJan 22, 2020
- Around the World
- Politics
Silence, Alterity, & Poetic Voice: From Homer to H.D., Spicer, & 21st Century Collaborative Poetry
Kristina Marie Darling discusses new approaches to the poetic process.
Kristina Marie DarlingJan 22, 2020
The Old in the New: Introducing “How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish”
Ilan Stavans and Josh Lambert introduce their new anthology, “How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish.”
Ilan Stavans, Josh LambertJan 21, 2020
Portrait of a Feminist Filmmaker
Talking to Celine Sciamma about her film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
LARB Radio HourJan 21, 2020
When Darkness Drains Away: On Virginie Despentes’s “Vernon Subutex 1”
Jennifer Croft is swept away by Frank Wynne’s translation of “Vernon Subutex 1,” a novel by Virginie Despentes.
Jennifer CroftJan 21, 2020
- Around the World
- Fiction
America Is Hard to See
As much as it is a portrait of Steve Bannon, "American Dharma" is also a story about the political and media class’s hypnotism by apocalyptic visions.
Ryan MeehanJan 21, 2020
- Film
- Politics
Artificial Morality
Bruce Sterling writes about the efficacy of an ethics manifesto by AI programmers.
Bruce SterlingJan 21, 2020
The Weekly Read: January 20, 2020
Steve Lichtman reviews the week in culture and politics.
Steve LichtmanJan 20, 2020
“Lights, Camera-maids, Action!”: Women Behind the Lens in Early Cinema
Gordon and Grimm consider how the camerawoman fought for relevance and visibility in the days of early cinema and ask why we continue to forget her.
Charles “Buckey” Grimm, Marsha GordonJan 20, 2020
- Film
- Gender & Sexuality
Fleeing the Red Pharaohs: On Emil Draitser’s “Farewell, Mama Odessa”
Oleg Ivanov follows the tragicomic travails of Soviet émigrés in “Farewell, Mama Odessa” by Emil Draitser.
Oleg IvanovJan 20, 2020
- Around the World
- Fiction
Normality Becomes Madness: Trauma in Contemporary Nordic Speculative Fiction
Katie Smith looks at three recent books to consider how Nordic SF writers grapple with trauma through highly experimental prose.
Katie SmithJan 20, 2020
Misfit Friendships: A Conversation with Jeff Zentner
A prominent YA author on the importance of friendship and the dangers of toxic masculinity.
Tim CummingsJan 19, 2020
- Young Adult & Children’s Literature
The Earth Died Screaming
What Tom Waits has to teach us about the coming global catastrophe.
Robert Cashin RyanJan 19, 2020
- Music
55 Voices for Democracy: "Democracy and Emphatic Talk" by Jan Philipp Reemtsma
Jan Philipp Reemtsma talks about the importance of emphatic rhetoric in democracy for the Thomas Mann House series "55 Voices for Democracy."
Jan Philipp ReemtsmaJan 19, 2020