Books & Ideas
On Justice for Animals
Martha Nussbaum on her new book—and why a full development of our humanity requires developing our capacities to care for animals.
Microfinance’s Imagined Utopia
Two new books critique poverty capital, but they don’t ask what borrowers need.
Without Warrant
Yawning gaps in the law empower police to collect and store massive amounts of data, all on the grounds that it might one day turn out useful.
A Century of Serious Difficulty
Reflecting on three monumental works of modernism a hundred years on.
Democracy v. The People
Rather than seeking to quash “populism,” we should broaden our vision of politics and make democracies more responsive to citizens.
You Owe Me an Argument
Epiphanies can prompt us to view the world differently, a new book contends. But they are no substitute for ethical and political debate.
The Education of Ben Bernanke
His new book cuts through economic orthodoxy on central banking. But he fails to reckon deeply with its political consequences.
The New Moral Mathematics
In his new book, philosopher William MacAskill implies that humanity’s long-term survival matters more than preventing short-term suffering and death.
The Mexican Revolution as U.S. History
In her new book, historian Kelly Lytle Hernández makes the case for why U.S. history only makes sense when told as a binational story.
Twenty Years of Freedom Dreams
Robin D. G. Kelley published his pathbreaking history of the Black radical imagination in 2002. Where are we two decades later?
Up from Federalism
In the United States, the division of power between state and national government hurts democracy rather than helps it.
Why Does the State Care About Your Gender?
The patchwork of government regulations around sex and gender causes endless misery for transgender people.
Mental Illness Is Not in Your Head
Decades of biological research haven’t improved diagnosis or treatment. We should look to society, not to the brain.
The Elite Capture of Asian American Politics
By casting doubt on multiracial working-class solidarity, Jay Caspian Kang’s critique of professional identity politics fails on its own terms.
Gramsci’s Gift
For the Italian Communist, there was no road map for social transformation beyond hands-on, bottom-up activism.
The “Benevolent Terror” of the Child Welfare System
The system’s roots aren’t in rescuing children but in the policing of Black, Indigenous, and poor families.
The Personal Is Philosophical
On the first English translation of Wittgenstein’s early private notebooks.
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