Science & Technology

"The nineteenth century believed in science but the twentieth century does not." — Gertrude Stein

Going Coastal: On Some Recent Books About the Ecology and History of Beaches
Daniela Blei explores the paradoxes constituted by “the beach” — an allegedly natural place of leisure and fun since the Industrial Revolution, and now the site of our species’ myopia.
Daniela BleiNov 16, 2022
Managing Nature: On Recent Books About Conservation and Genetic Modification
John Dupré discusses recent science books about genetic modification, conservation, factory farming, and the effects of capitalism on ecology.
John DupréNov 13, 2022
- Politics
- Science & Technology
Green Capitalism Is a Scam: A Conversation with Adrienne Buller
Writer Cal Turner and Sara Van Horn interview Adrienne Buller, author of “The Value of a Whale.”
Cal Turner, Sara Van HornOct 27, 2022
Sense and Nonsense in California: A Conversation with Markus Gabriel
Markus Gabriel speaks to Andrea Capra about his philosophy of a New Enlightenment.
Andrea CapraOct 23, 2022
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
What Is It Like to Have a Brain?: On Patrick House’s “Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness”
Henry M. Cowles reviews Patrick House’s “Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness” and finds House’s brains to be remarkably similar to Wallace Stevens’s birds in “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”
Henry M. CowlesOct 11, 2022
Visible Faultlines: A Conversation with the Authors of “Unprecedented? How COVID-19 Revealed the Politics of Our Economy”
In “Unprecedented? How COVID-19 Revealed the Politics of Our Economy,” a group of political economists use a single and precise metaphor — photosynthesis — to bring the broad social consequences of the pandemic into focus.
Michelle ChiharaOct 6, 2022
- Economics and Finance
- Science & Technology
The Bargaining Chips Are … Chips: On Chris Miller’s “Chip War”
Historian of technology Patrick McCray describes Chris Miller’s “Chip War” as “an account of how chips became a strategically vital resource whose importance is overlooked at our peril.” Miller has placed his own chips on this point. His bet has largely paid off, according to McCray.
W. Patrick McCrayOct 4, 2022
The Center Did Not Hold: On Seung Chul Kim’s “The Center Is Everywhere”
Leo D. Lefebure takes a critical look at Seung Chul Kim’s “The Center Is Everywhere.”
Leo D. LefebureSep 25, 2022
The Uterus and the Will to Power
Anthropologist Meredith Reiches describes how having a uterus changes what’s possible, physically and legally — and how, once again, what’s possible is being curtailed.
Meredith ReichesSep 22, 2022
Imperfect Wisdom: On Rachel Aviv’s “Strangers To Ourselves”
Callie Hitchcock gets to know “Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us,” a new analysis of mental illness by Rachel Aviv.
Callie HitchcockSep 22, 2022
- Nonfiction
- Science & Technology
Flesh and Affect: On Alexander R. Galloway’s “Uncomputable”
Arjun Appadurai scans Alexander R. Galloway’s “Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age.”
Arjun AppaduraiSep 18, 2022
- Cultural Studies
- Science & Technology
Is Social Media a Threat to Democracy?
Allen Mendenhall reviews “Social Media, Freedom of Speech, and the Future of Our Democracy” by Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone.
Allen MendenhallSep 1, 2022