Archive

Asking for a Friend: Turns Out I Don’t Like Parenthood. Now What?
"Dear Olive, I have a one-year-old and a three-year-old, and honestly, it sucks."
Olga KreimerJan 31, 2019
Warriors Without Guns: Yet One Way More to Think About the Civil War
In "Uncivil Warriors," Peter Charles Hoffer looks at how lawyers contributed to the coming conflict, shaped the issues, and helped prosecute the war.
Paul FinkelmanJan 30, 2019
Why Me?: On Tressie McMillan Cottom’s “Thick: And Other Essays”
In “Thick,” black womanhood unites all the essays, yet Tressie McMillan Cottom is not interested in making simple generalizations from her own experience.
Maggie LevantovskayaJan 30, 2019
Rushdie’s Deal with the Devil
Thirty years on from the release of "The Satanic Verses," Kevin Blankinship considers the Rushdie Affair and how it overshadowed the author's novel.
Kevin BlankinshipJan 30, 2019
- Fiction
- Politics
Writing the Political: Lessons from Best American Short Stories 2018
Rosa Boshier reflects on the lessons of "Best American Short Stories 2018," edited by Roxane Gay.
Jan 30, 2019
“No Demons Amongst Us”: On Simon Lancaster’s “You Are Not Human: How Words Kill”
Houman Barekat looks closely at “You Are Not Human: How Words Kill” by Simon Lancaster.
Houman BarekatJan 29, 2019
- Cultural Studies
- Politics
Dark Knights and Sunny Disquisitions: On David Kipen’s “Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018”
Anthony Mostrom pores over “Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018” by David Kipen.
Anthony MostromJan 29, 2019
- History
- Nonfiction
Out of the Picture: On Tony Wood’s “Russia Without Putin: Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War”
Richard Lourie appreciates “Russia Without Putin,” an “indispensable book about post-Soviet Russia” by Tony Wood.
Richard LourieJan 29, 2019
- Around the World
- Politics
Sarah Smarsh's Heartland and the American Dream
Jody Ellis reviews Sarah Smarsh's "Heartland: A Memoir of Working and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth."
Jody EllisJan 29, 2019
Vanity of Vanities
John Kaag contemplates John T. Lysaker's "Philosophy, Writing, and the Character of Thought."
John KaagJan 28, 2019
- Philosophy & Religion
Classroom Management: Simon Sinek, ClassDojo, and the Nostalgia Industry
How social media in the classroom trains students to be corporate over-achievers.
Grafton TannerJan 28, 2019
- Education
- Science & Technology
Trust-Busting as the Unsexy Answer to Google and Facebook
Gabriel Nicholas examines the new tech landscape of American monopolies.
Gabriel NicholasJan 28, 2019
Responding to the Climate Emergency: Socialism or Barbarism
Paul S. Adler contributes to the Provocations series, in conjunction with UCI’s “Fire and Ice: The Shifting Narratives of Climate Change” conference.
Paul S. AdlerJan 28, 2019
A Disagreeable Mirror
A book on race asks readers to understand whiteness in a new way.
Marlena TrafasJan 27, 2019
- Politics
Queering the Vote
On how LGBTQ populations in the United States support Democrats in much greater numbers than the liberal party support among their counterparts in Europe.
Samuel Clowes HunekeJan 27, 2019
Israel Versus Israel: On “Catch-67: The Left, the Right, and the Legacy of the Six-Day War”
Israel has a hard time talking to Palestine, but an even worse time talking with itself.
David MikicsJan 27, 2019
- Around the World
- Politics