Archive

2+2=5: On the White Sea-Baltic Canal and Totalitarian Pipe Dreams
Maya Vinokour considers dictatorial “gigantomania,” from Stalin’s White Sea-Baltic Canal to Trump’s THE WALL.
Maya VinokourSep 27, 2018
The Outdoor Shower, In Three Acts
Amy Carleton shares her love for the outdoor shower.
Amy CarletonSep 27, 2018
A Different Dialogue
"Once a week I travel to the Tarkumia checkpoint that divides the West Bank from Israel, to volunteer with The Road to Recovery."
Joanna ChenSep 27, 2018
The Things They Carried: On “Objects of War: The Material Culture of Conflict and Displacement”
Ashley Valanzola appraises “Objects of War: The Material Culture of Conflict and Displacement,” edited by Leora Auslander and Tara E. Zahra.
Ashley ValanzolaSep 26, 2018
- Cultural Studies
- History
Party of One: Democracy, Political Parties, and Simone Weil
A side-by-side reading of a French philosopher and a pair of American political scientists.
Guy Patrick CunninghamSep 26, 2018
- Philosophy & Religion
- Politics
Mystics and Interlopers
"How effective are Islamic states at satisfying the religious needs of their citizens?" Nile Green on "The Iranian Metaphysicals."
Nile GreenSep 26, 2018
- Around the World
- Religion
How Writing a Memoir Helped Me Find My Sister
Juan Vidal, author of "Rap Dad," discusses how writing his memoir helped him re-connect with his long-lost sister.
Juan VidalSep 26, 2018
What’s the Matter With Sweden?
Kelly Candaele reflects on the results of the Swedish general elections.
Kelly CandaeleSep 26, 2018
Reckoning with Colombia’s Bloody, Conspiratorial History in Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s “The Shape of the Ruins”
Mike Broida finds danger in Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s exploration of the conspiracies that shaped Colombia in his new novel, “The Shape of the Ruins.”
Mike BroidaSep 25, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
James M. Cain and the West Virginia Mine Wars
Sean Carswell looks into James M. Cain and his time reporting on the West Virginia Mine Wars.
Sean CarswellSep 25, 2018
- Noir
The Fight for Our Eyeballs
Alyssa Loh explores a critique of the attention economy from ex-Google strategist James Williams.
Alyssa LohSep 25, 2018
- Politics
- Science & Technology
Prepare a Face to Meet the Faces: Virginie Despentes’s Pretty Things
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Virginie Despentes's "Pretty Things," translated by Emma Ramadan.
Nathan Scott McNamaraSep 25, 2018
No Room for the Lie
Gabino Iglesias talks to David Joy about his new book, "The Line That Held Us."
Gabino IglesiasSep 24, 2018
- Noir
The Many Lives and Deaths of the Body in Guadalupe Nettel’s “After the Winter”
For Callum Angus, Guadalupe Nettel’s mission in her newly translated novel After the Winter is “deeply personal and recognizably urgent.”
Callum AngusSep 24, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
“Good” Refugees, “Bad” Refugees: A Conversation in Paris with Viet Thanh Nguyen
A discussion of a new collection of essays by immigrant writers.
Christine BuckleySep 24, 2018
- Around the World
- Fiction
That Complex Ghost: On Sarah Weinman’s The Real Lolita
Nichole LeFebvre reviews Sarah Weinman's haunting work of nonficiton, "The Real Lolita."
Nichole LeFebvreSep 24, 2018