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Tales of Transformation in China
Pallavi Aiyar explores how the youth navigate the precarity of contemporary China in her review of two new books by Alec Ash and Yuan Yang.
Cultural Studies
"Culture is an instrument wielded by professors to manufacture professors." — Simone Weil
A Disproportionate Display of Force: The Lure of Epic Rage
Torsa Ghosal discusses Dev Patel’s film “Monkey Man” and the problematic politics of revenge.
Poor Reading, Weak Theory: An Excerpt from “The Amateur”
LARB presents an excerpt from Saikat Majumdar’s “The Amateur: Self-Making and the Humanities in the Postcolony.”
“Chinatown” at 50, or Seeing Oil Through Cinema
Michael Rubenstein writes on the 50th anniversary of “Chinatown” and the beginning of the end of petromodernity.
The Lie of the Land: June Fourth, Censorship, and “On the Edge”
Thomas Chen reviews Margaret Hillenbrand’s “On the Edge: Feeling Precarious in China.”
Reviving “Ophelia”: On Returning to the Music of Natalie Merchant
Jenny Boyar writes about her midlife rediscovery of singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant.
The DMZ at 70
Matthew Longo reflects on the surreal experience of the DMZ, where borders create both division and unity.
Another Kind of Prescience
Hannah Sage Kay reviews David K. Seitz’s “A Different Trek: Radical Geographies of ‘Deep Space Nine.’”
To Be Real: On Emily Nussbaum’s “Cue the Sun!”
Olivia Stowell reviews Emily Nussbaum’s “Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV.”
Embracing the Chaos: On John Mulaney’s “Everybody’s in L.A.”
Henry Luzzatto puzzles over John Mulaney’s Netflix talk show “Everybody’s in L.A.”
Dispelling the “Stink of Love”: On the Ken-ification of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Querelle”
David A. Gerstner considers the sterilized presentation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Querelle” in its new rerelease.
Holding Hands with the Archive: A Conversation with Julian Carter
Selby Wynn Schwartz speaks with Julian Carter about his new book “Dances of Time and Tenderness,” self-described as “not a memoir, but a collective memory.”
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