Culture

The Return of Nunsploitation

Jeff Baena’s The Little Hours is a clever update on Boccaccio's The Decameron.

Michael Atkinson

How the Threat of Apocalypse Justifies American Empire

A new book argues that in the military's hands, warnings of world's end become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Chris Lehmann

When the Bankers Took Manhattan: Austerity’s New York Roots

The new book Fear City documents the slide of New York City from vibrant social democracy to neoliberal abyss.

Moe Tkacik

The Milquetoast Militants of Showtime’s “Guerrilla”

The protagonists' middle-class naiveté rolls off them in waves.

Eileen Jones

How To Resist, in 6 Books

Your guide to the guides to the resistance.

Kate Aronoff

The Scrooges in Charge

From refugees to healthcare, Theresa May's policies are paranoid and mean-spirited.

Jane Miller

Hulu’s Brilliant Adaptation of “The Handmaid’s Tale” Says More About Our Present Than Our Future

For many marginalized women, dystopia is already here.

Jessica Stites

The Elusive Emily Dickinson

A new film explores the poet's restless mind and lonely life.

Michael Atkinson

Our New Philanthropic Overlords

Why the donor class loves charter schools—and themselves.

Chris Lehmann

To Form a More Corporate Union

The Land of Enterprise: A Business History of the United States shows that Trump's greed is no aberration.

Chris Lehmann

Toward a Real-Life Zootopia

How a fuller conception of freedom can help humans and others coexist.

Dayton Martindale

View of the Swamp from Across the Pond

As the U.K. barrels toward Brexit, Trump provides Britain with another bizarre spectacle.

Jane Miller

The Best Police Money Can Buy

In the Fox series APB, police misconduct doesn't exist, and privatization and technology can fix any problem.

Kristian Williams

Girl, You’ll Be a Cannibal Soon

A new French horror film explores identity, coming of age and the various temptations of the flesh.

Michael Atkinson

Brexit From the Side of a Volcano

Contemplating capitalism and democracy in the Canary Islands.

Jane Miller

How Today’s White Middle Class Was Made Possible By Welfare

Whites, angered at blacks and immigrants receiving "government handouts," forget they were lifted out of poverty through racially exclusive welfare programs in the 30s.

Margaret Garb

George Saunders’ New Novel Follows Abraham Lincoln’s Son to a Buddhist Afterlife

In his first full-length novel, the short story virtuoso weaves U.S. history with the otherworldly.

Chris Lehmann

Don’t Be Fooled By the Trump Spat—The CIA Is Not Your Friend

A new book reminds us that the CIA is one of history's great purveyors of fake news.

Branko Marcetic