Politics

"You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to." — Molly Ivins

Unmaking California’s Central Valley
Water piped in from elsewhere has performed a peculiar kind of magic in California’s Central Valley, writes Sayd Randle. That magic is now dimming.
Sayd RandleDec 31, 2020
The Black College Experience: On Jelani M. Favors’s “Shelter in a Time of Storm”
Elwood Watson reviews Jelani M. Favors's new book, "Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism."
Elwood WatsonDec 31, 2020
- History
- Politics
A Sprawling Study Tracks the Global State of LGBT People
Michael Nava reviews Mark Gevisser’s “The Pink Line,” a study of LGBTQ struggles for civil rights across the world.
Michael NavaDec 30, 2020
War-Making and Crime-Fighting in a Punitive Society
Paul M. Renfro examines "The Punitive Turn in American Life," the new book by Michael S. Sherry.
Paul M. RenfroDec 30, 2020
- History
- Politics
This Should Be a Movie: “American Utopia,” the Concert Film, and Extending a Terrific Moment
Sara Black McCulloch considers the nature of the concert film — its scope, its liveness, and its political commitments.
Sara Black McCullochDec 30, 2020
Letters from Prison: A Conversation with Mike Africa Jr.
A discussion of Tiyo Attallah Salah-El’s “Pen Pal: Prison Letters from a Free Spirit on Slow Death Row.”
Aaron ShulmanDec 28, 2020
- Memoir & Essay
- Politics
Part II: A Constituency of the Powerless: Homeless in Los Angeles
For Los Angeles, the advantage of the homeless crisis is that the public has finally recognized the crisis as a crisis.
Joseph GiovanniniDec 27, 2020
- Politics
ON LOS ANGELES: Part I: A Downtown in Downtown: Los Angeles’s Manifest Destiny
DTLA 2040 is an ambitious and comprehensive plan to guide the development of greater downtown.
Joseph GiovanniniDec 27, 2020
- History
- Politics
Making the Invisible Visible: An Interview with Housing Activist Diane Nilan
Eleanor J. Bader interviews Diane Nilan on her latest book about family homelessness.
Eleanor J. BaderDec 23, 2020
- Politics
Beverly Hills Riot
Antonia Hitchens on her time with the people who love Trump.
Antonia HitchensDec 21, 2020
- Nonfiction
- Politics
The Fallacy of American Studies: A Conversation
On xenolinguaphobia and the provincialism of American Studies.
Ilan Stavans, Steven G. KellmanDec 19, 2020
Stars, Bars, and Memoirs
A West Point brigadier general takes aim at the Army’s history of coddling Confederate iconography.
Charles DunstDec 18, 2020