China, the West, and The Three-Body Problem
The themes of Liu Cixin’s trilogy undermine his protestations of loyalty to the People’s Republic.
Jason Garshfield
· 17 min read
Art and Culture
A collection of 721 posts
Katie Herzog’s Plan B
In a new book, Katherine Brodsky explains how members of the ‘silenced majority’ find new audiences after enduring episodes of public mobbing.
Katherine Brodsky
· 9 min read
A Love Letter to the Theatre
An interview with Sean Mathias, the director of a daring and original new film adaptation of ‘Hamlet.’
Hannah Gal
· 12 min read
Attila Invictus
In the eighth instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ Herbert Bushman describes the Huns’ increasingly violent incursions into the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.
Herbert Bushman
· 19 min read
Raymond Aron and the Art of Politics
For Aron, politics is the art of living together, the art of the possible, and requires an “acute awareness” of the limitations of our power to influence reality.
Alan S. Rome
· 13 min read
The Amityville Horror—A 50-Year Old Lie That Won’t Die
Jay Anson’s haunted-house yarn was a highly lucrative hoax, but it struck a popular chord amid the financial precarity of 1970s America.
Kevin Mims
· 26 min read
On Sin and Repentance
Our secular ideas about guilt and absolution distort the language and values of Christianity.
Marilyn Simon
· 9 min read
Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny Fight Fascism
The animation industry was perhaps the United States’ most potent cultural weapon during World War II.
Jacob Bielecki
· 15 min read
Beginning in Gladness, Ending in Madness
1900–1950 was a golden age of literary eccentricity.
Stephen Akey
· 14 min read
Motorpsycho Nightmare
Robert Pirsig’s insufferable cult novel about philosophy and bike maintenance turns 50.
Kevin Mims
· 18 min read
In the Country of Last Things
A look back at the work and impressively productive life of Brooklyn’s most famous resident, Paul Auster.
David Cohen
· 14 min read
The Best Picture Nominees, 2024
A look at the ten nominees for this year’s Best Picture Oscar.
Allan Stratton
· 17 min read
Beware the Little Lambs
Nietzsche warned us about the dangers of defining our values in opposition to something else.
Ben Turtel
· 7 min read
The Road Out of Nowhere
A new book celebrates Springsteen’s stark 1982 classic, ‘Nebraska.’
Matt Hanson
· 6 min read
To Winter, With Love
The cold allows me to feel alive.
Marilyn Simon
· 7 min read