All Essays

• 

  A Stranger in Siem Reap

  A young man abroad discovers that his vulnerabilities — and affections — can shift in an instant.

  Evan JamesMar 10, 2015

  • Travel

• 

  I Would Have to Wake Up Young Again: On “Bay of Angels,” Personal Mythology, and the Enduring Badassery of Diane Wakoski

  Wakoski has a knack … for insisting that we look at what we may not want to see, and for letting no one, not even herself, off the hook.

  Lynn MelnickMar 10, 2015

  • Poetry

• 

  “Between Ms. Hicks & Her Body”

  An original poem by David Huddle, author of "Blacksnake at the Family Reunion."

  David HuddleMar 9, 2015

  • Poetry

• 

  Smuggling the Lessons of Modernism: Will Self

  Will Self doesn’t exactly play it straight.

  William HarrisMar 9, 2015

  • Fiction

• 

  The Big Thaw: “Togetherness” and What Thirty-Something Means Now

  Thirtysomething is the new twentysomething. Soraya Roberts looks at the evolution of quarter-life crisis TV and film, from "The Big Chill" to HBO’s "Togetherness."

  Mar 8, 2015

  • Television

• 

  Reading as Kissing, Sex with Ideas: “Lesbian” Barebacking?

  “In fact, if there were time, we could rehearse how the sign “lesbian” has functioned historically as a bold estranging force, breeding estrangements with every use: Who is a lesbian? What do they do? Can it be sex?”

  Kathryn Bond StocktonMar 8, 2015

  • Gender & Sexuality

  • Literary Criticism

• 

  The Magdalena and the “Master Plan”

  New from "Around the World"

  Alex BaumhardtMar 7, 2015

  • Around the World

• 

  European (Union) Nihilism

  Syriza’s election in Greece signals a response to the European Union’s latent nihilism — one that Nietzsche and Heidegger both foresaw.

  Gianni Vattimo, Santiago ZabalaMar 6, 2015

  • Philosophy & Religion

  • Politics

• 

  Revisiting “Slaughterhouse-Five”

  Jonathan Creasy on Dresden, Vonnegut, and "Slaughterhouse-Five."

  Jonathan CreasyMar 6, 2015

  • Fiction

• 

  Secular Stagnation, Then and Now

  Larry Summers’s “secular stagnation” proposal has deep roots in Alvin Hansen economics.

  Tom StreithorstMar 5, 2015

  • Politics

• 

  Radio Hour: ISIS propaganda; What is a public intellectual?

  Cultural historian Leo Braudy joins to discuss ISIS propaganda videos; the role of public intellectuals. Also featuring Michael Tolkin.

  LARB AVMar 5, 2015

• A Girl’s Guide to Sexual Purity

  A candid, captivating personal essay about a young woman’s sexual awakening by way of Christian youth groups, traumatic sexual assault, and an inappropriate confidant in the form of a youth pastor with boundary issues.

  Carmen Maria MachadoMar 5, 2015

  • Memoir & Essay

• 

  The Writers

  An excerpt from Miranda Banks’s book "The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and their Guild."

  Miranda BanksMar 4, 2015

  • Film

• 

  The View from Dover

  David Herd on the Dover Immigration Removal Centre.

  David HerdMar 3, 2015

  • Cultural Studies

• 

  The Color of Context

  Any art made by an artist of color and brought into the Institution is automatically a radical work.

  Nikki DarlingMar 1, 2015

  • Art & Architecture

• 

  Tired of Living, Afraid of Dying: Horace McCoy’s Legacy

  Horace McCoy’s depression lasted longer than the country’s.

  Chris MorganFeb 27, 2015

  • Noir