All Reviews

• 

  In Defense of the Free Auteur

  David Louis Zuckerman explores crisis and awakening in Amalia Ulman’s film, “Magic Farm,” at the 2025 Los Angeles Festival of Movies.

  David Louis ZuckermanMay 25

  • Film

  • Environment

• 

  Bear to Look

  Ryan Teitman dives into Rosalie Moffett’s new collection of poems, “Making a Living.”

  Ryan TeitmanMay 25

  • Poetry

• 

  Terminal Delirium

  From the perspective of her own experience as a neurologist, Pria Anand critically reads Michael Erard’s “Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words.”

  Pria AnandMay 24

  • Science & Technology

• 

  The Rapturous Power of Words

  Sarah Moorhouse explores Edward Wilson-Lee’s “The Grammar of Angels: A Search for the Magical Powers of Sublime Language.”

  Sarah MoorhouseMay 24

  • Philosophy & Religion

• 

  Ross Douthat’s Tame God

  Ed Simon considers the invitation from Ross Douthat to believe in a deity.

  Ed SimonMay 23

  • Philosophy & Religion

• 

  Moments Before Burning

  Benjamin Paul considers Mary Helen Callier’s debut poetry collection, “When the Horses.”

  Benjamin PaulMay 23

  • Poetry

• 

  We’re Not Happy Until You’re Not Happy

  Diana Heald reviews Sophie Gilbert’s “Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves.”

  Diana HealdMay 22

  • Cultural Studies

• 

  Bureaucracy Versus the Apocalypse

  Mieke Marple reviews the new anthology “Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service,” edited by Michael Lewis.

  Mieke MarpleMay 21

  • Politics

• 

  What Would It Take to Re-Sacralize Nature?

  Ellen Wayland-Smith admires how Robert Macfarlane’s “Is a River Alive?” places the reader in immersive contact with the nature we regard as mere backdrop to human activity.

  Ellen Wayland-SmithMay 20

  • Science & Technology

  • Environment

• 

  A Living Season

  Rowland Bagnall discovers “The Essential C. D. Wright,” edited by Forrest Gander and Michael Wiegers.

  Rowland BagnallMay 19

  • Poetry

• 

  The Radical Cringe of “The Pitt”

  Charlotte E. Rosen breaks down the political ramifications of Max’s “The Pitt” for subjects of an anti-expertise, anti-empathy fascist regime.

  Charlotte E. RosenMay 18

  • Television

  • Politics

• 

  A World on Fire

  Tim Hirschel-Burns evaluates Friederike Otto’s “Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change,” translated by Sarah Pybus.

  Tim Hirschel-BurnsMay 18

  • Environment

  • Politics

• 

  Reframing Solidarity

  Joshua Gutterman Tranen considers Sarah Schulman’s “The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity.”

  Joshua Gutterman TranenMay 17

  • Memoir & Essay

  • Politics

• 

  The Blob Gazes into the Abyss

  Nils Gilman reviews Mathew Burrows and Joseph Braml’s “World to Come: The Return of Trump and the End of the Old Order.”

  Nils GilmanMay 15

  • Politics

• 

  Opening the Pandora’s Box of Latin American Women’s Writing

  Elaine Elinson reviews Kit Maude’s new translation of “We, the Casertas,” a novel by Argentine author Aurora Venturini.

  Elaine ElinsonMay 14

  • Fiction

• 

  Portals and Possibilities

  Ruth Joffre reviews Debbie Urbanski’s story collection “Portalmania.”

  Ruth JoffreMay 13

  • Fiction

  • SF