Fourth of July Reading List

Here’s to another year of freedom.

Featured image: President Richard Nixon Shaking Hands with Elvis Presley in the Oval Office, 1970. National Archives Catalog, White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration) (1667921: 37-whpo-5364-18). CC0, archives.gov. Accessed July 2, 2025. Image has been cropped.

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
A Week Occupied by ICE, or How Close Does the Violence Become
Rhys Langston reports from Los Angeles.
Rhys LangstonJun 20
- Politics
Politics as Usual
Mary Turfah writes on Iran.
Mary TurfahJun 25
- Politics
Reactionary Futurism 2025
Jordan S. Carroll reviews recent scholarship on the alt-right.
Jordan S. CarrollJun 16
- SF
- Politics
Conspiracism, Nationalism, Decline
Sarah Brouillette reviews Jamie Merchant’s “Endgame: Economic Nationalism and Global Decline.”
Sarah BrouilletteJun 19
- Politics
- Economics and Finance
For Whom Is Campus to Be Safe?
Prof. Saree Makdisi diagnoses how the university, the police, and the media have failed our students protesting on behalf of Gazan lives.
Saree MakdisiMay 10, 2024
Trump l’Oeil
Gideon Jacobs peers into the uncanny valley of the Republican President-elect.
Gideon JacobsNov 3, 2024
- Politics
New Tyrannies
Sophie Kemp considers the recent and ongoing radicalization of young men in the United States.
Sophie KempNov 14, 2024
- Politics
- Gender & Sexuality
Perfect Little Baby
Grace Byron ruminates on despair and hope in the wake of the election.
Grace ByronNov 17, 2024
- Politics
Cop Cities Mock Cities
Stuart Schrader examines the historical origins and current ramifications of “cop city” complexes.
Stuart SchraderOct 12, 2024
- Law
- Politics
American Mythology
Is the United States a prisoner of its own mythology? Tom Zoellner looks at “A Great Disorder” by Richard Slotkin.
Tom ZoellnerOct 4, 2024
On Afropessimism
Jesse McCarthy considers the writing of Frank B. Wilderson III.
Jesse McCarthyJul 20, 2020
- Philosophy & Religion
The New Declaration of Sentiments
Elizabeth L. Silver discusses four important court cases that have defined the landscape of women’s rights in the United States.
Elizabeth L. SilverJan 23, 2024
- Gender & Sexuality
- Law
Don Franzen and Jesse Wegman Discuss Abolishing the Electoral College
A conversation about the past and future of the Electoral College.
Don Franzen, Jesse WegmanJul 23, 2020