Millionaire’s Hothouse
It was a gray day in New York City. My friend Annelise and I were in a cab, grinding our way toward the annual orchid show at the New York Botanical Garden, which I planned to write about and she would...
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The Tale of Genji’s Image-Conscious, Experience-Hungry Courtiers
The first thing you need to know about the titular character of The Tale of Genji, the world’s first novel, a thousand pages completed in Heian-period Japan around 1021 CE, is that he is hot AF, as...
View ArticleThere Is No Profound Meaning to the Notre Dame Fire
Fire has held a certain mystical power in the human mind since Prometheus stole it from the gods. When it burns down the spire of Notre Dame—one of Christendom’s great churches, resting at the heart of...
View ArticleUnderstanding Facebook’s Algorithm Could Change How You See Yourself
When we go online these days, we know we’re not alone: The internet is looking back at us. Our clicks give us the information and products we ask for, but at the same time they provide information...
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Why Is Bill de Blasio’s Presidential Dream a Sad Joke?
It may be hard to believe now, but for a New York minute it seemed that Bill de Blasio was going to be the champion of an insurgent left. Progressive activists and commentators hailed de Blasio’s...
View ArticleWill Rod Rosenstein Regret Defending Bill Barr?
The Mueller report, set to be released in redacted form on Thursday, will be a test of Attorney General Bill Barr’s integrity. Many critics expect him to flunk it. “I don’t trust Barr,” House Speaker...
View ArticleSelling the Green New Deal With Optimism, Not Fear
How can a democratic political system institute far-reaching changes to a wildly destructive and unequal political economy? Amid mounting signs that climate change is already altering most modes of...
View ArticleHow to Fix the Fashion Industry’s Racism
When clothing retailer H&M was embroiled in a public relations crisis over its decision to cast a black toddler in a sweatshirt referencing a monkey in a jungle, one fashion news site offered this...
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How Instagram Ruined the Great Outdoors
There was once a swimming hole in a stream-fed gorge on the public lands of the Catskill Mountains that was gloriously free of Homo sapiens. You could go there in the height of summer and see no one...
View ArticleThe Impotence of “Stop Sanders” Democrats
Not too long ago, the conventional wisdom in mainstream Democratic circles was that Bernie Sanders was finished. He was too old and too stubborn; he reminded voters too strongly of an election they’d...
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Women of Substance
On a bright Saturday morning in early March, the annual Texas schmoozefest known as South by Southwest was off to a groggy start. It was noonish, and on the streets of the state capital, the assembled...
View ArticleThe New Republic Continues Expansion with Editorial Hires
New York, NY—(April 16, 2019)— The New Republic today announced its expanded editorial team under the direction of recently-named Editor Chris Lehmann. Gregg Levine joins as a senior editor, with Alex...
View ArticleThe New Republic’s May Issue Delivers No-Holds-Barred Commentary on Political...
New York, NY—(April 18, 2019)—The New Republic today published its May 2019 issue, which features a cover story by Liza Mundy, “Women of Substance.” Mundy profiles the current six female Democratic...
View ArticleAlan García and the Fatal Compromises of the Latin American Left
On the morning of April 17, the former president of Peru, Alan García, locked himself in his home office and shot himself. Police on the scene, who had come to arrest him, but had let him go to his...
View ArticleGene Wolfe Was the Proust of Science Fiction
Near the end of Gene Wolfe’s 1980 novel The Shadow of the Torturer, the narrator, Severian, an exiled executioner, has what he thinks is a vision of a burning cathedral. “Hanging over the city like a...
View ArticleYes, Collusion
Over the course of Donald Trump’s presidency, “no collusion” has become a mantra, rivaling only “Make America Great Again” as a motto and, at times, an organizing principle. The president and his...
View ArticleHow to Get Away With Obstruction of Justice
The Justice Department has released special counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page report and titled it, dryly, “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.” A...
View ArticleThe Mueller Report’s Lasting Damage to Trump
When transcripts of Richard Nixon’s Oval Office tapes were released during Watergate, they were punctuated by the White House with the prissy editing notation: “Expletive Deleted.” As edited by...
View ArticleLiving Off the Grid and Safe From Hurricanes in Puerto Rico
When Noemi and Carlos Chaparro peered outside on September 21, 2017, they gasped at the destruction. Hurricane Maria, which had made landfall the previous day, had uprooted the gracious old palm and...
View ArticleThe Oligarch Battle Behind Ukraine’s Presidential Election
If Ihor Kolomoisky wants to buy Ukraine’s presidency, as his critics allege, can you really blame him?A lifelong “raider,” as he calls those skilled at exploiting opportunity, Kolomoisky in his youth...
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