Essays Archive | Los Angeles Review of Books

All Essays

Farnoosh Fathi’s “The Ball of the Bald,” (5) and (6)
The LARB Quarterly no. 45, “Submission,” presents two new poems by Farnoosh Fathi.
Farnoosh FathiJul 7
- LARB Lit
- Poetry
Murderous Genes and Criminal Brains
In the ninth essay in the Legacies of Eugenics series, Oliver Rollins explores how the new biology of crime opens a backdoor to eugenics.
Oliver RollinsJul 6
- Science & Technology
- Politics
Incendiary
Charley Burlock interrogates the myths surrounding wildfires, grief, and California's supposed “gasoline trees” in an essay from LARB Quarterly no. 45: “Submission.”
Charley BurlockJul 3
- LARB Lit
- Environment
Feds Watching
Jack Lubin considers state censorship and New Orleans rapper B.G.’s album “Freedom of Speech,” in a preview of LARB Quarterly no. 45: “Submission.”
Jack LubinJul 1
Cracked, Costly Fantasies
Dan O’Sullivan traces the legacy of right-wing ideologies in California.
Dan O’SullivanJun 28
- Politics
- History
Fear, Loathing
Yousef Srour traces the abstraction of death in post-9/11 America.
Yousef SrourJun 27
- Politics
Politics as Usual
Mary Turfah writes on Iran.
Mary TurfahJun 25
- Politics
Never a Patient Woman
Emmeline Clein finds pockets of faith in feminist writer Shulamith Firestone's ostensibly airless spaces in an essay from LARB Quarterly no. 45: “Submission.”
Emmeline CleinJun 24
A Week Occupied by ICE, or How Close Does the Violence Become
Rhys Langston reports from Los Angeles.
Rhys LangstonJun 20
- Politics
Reactionary Futurism 2025
Jordan S. Carroll reviews recent scholarship on the alt-right.
Jordan S. CarrollJun 16
- SF
- Politics
Teapot Dome Pitch Meeting: Edward Doheny, Albert Fall, and Cecil B. DeMille
In the fifth installment in an ongoing series, LARB founder Tom Lutz reflects on the convergence of politics and cultural power in early Hollywood.
Tom LutzJun 12
- Film
- Politics
May the Ratings Be Ever in Your Favor
As Lionsgate ramps up filming the newest “Hunger Games” prequel adaptation, Jazmine Agregado revisits the franchise’s popular indictment of our attraction to violent on-screen spectacle.
Jazmine AgregadoJun 1
He’s a Cretin but We’ll Manage Him
Paul North finds a prescient analysis of the end of the American republic in Karl Marx’s essay “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte.”
Paul NorthMay 30
- Philosophy & Religion
- Politics
“Fresh, Green Life” by Sebastian Castillo
Dive into a compulsively readable journey through philosophy, literature, and the antihero’s pursuit of self-improvement in the LARB Book Club Summer 2025 pick “Fresh, Green Life” by Sebastian Castillo.
May 28
There Is No Such Thing as Green Capitalism
David Shipko explores climate denialism in speculative literature and culture.
David ShipkoMay 26
- SF
- Environment
Alt-Media, Then and Now
Aaron Boehmer discusses the visual language of underground and alternative newspapers and how they subvert mainstream media through design.
Aaron BoehmerMay 17
- Memoir & Essay
- Politics