A Novelist’s Life in America’s Underbelly
Nelson Algren infused his best writing with passionate political conviction.
Culture
Gregor Von Rezzori’s Vast Postwar Masterpiece
“Abel and Cain” is about memory, how it’s made and remade, sequelized and turned into kitsch.
Fans Are Ruining Game of Thrones—And Everything Else
How art and culture became captured by the logic of the consumer market
Game of Thrones: Worst Finale Ever?
A TNR roundtable discusses “The Iron Throne,” the last episode in the final season of the HBO fantasy series.
Care in a Land of Closing Hospitals
The Russian writer Maxim Osipov was best known as a medical doctor, until he began to publish arresting, empathetic stories of sickness and treatment.
Arrest Me, You Alabama Cowards
The state's abortion ban treats women as victims of evil doctors rather than informed, willing participants.
Freeing Britney Spears
The pop star has spent more than a decade in legal bondage. How did this happen?
Nathan Glazer’s Life of the Mind
In his critique of 1960s movements, Glazer was not defending conservatism so much as trying to protect a clearer path to liberalism.
The Unstoppable Rise of Phoebe Waller-Bridge
The creator of "Killing Eve" returns with a second (and final) season of "Fleabag," the series that made her an international star.
Game of Thrones: Ask Not For Whom the Bells Toll
A TNR roundtable discusses “The Bells,” the fifth episode in the final season of the HBO fantasy series.
Claire Denis’s Long Journey to Nowhere
On "High Life" and other damned worlds
How To Think Freely
In their encounters with Western art, Soviet audiences found ways to reimagine themselves.
Going Under at the Playboy Club
It's been a half-century since Gloria Steinem exposed the outrageous working conditions at Hugh Hefner's club. Playboy has changed—but have we?
The Inevitable Emptiness of the 2019 Met Gala
Camp can be subversively political. But you wouldn't have known it from the Met's pink carpet.
The Price of Meat
America’s obsession with beef was born of conquest and exploitation.
Amy Hempel’s Powerful Brevity
The narrators in “Sing to It” get through pain with the smallest, strongest words.
Game of Thrones: Another One Bites the Dust
A TNR roundtable discusses “The Last of the Starks,” the fourth episode in the final season of the HBO fantasy series.
The Emptiness of Adam Gopnik’s Liberalism
His new book lacks a fundamental understanding of political-economic power.
Writing for the End Times
Giacomo Sartori’s novel “I Am God” narrates the ultimate existential crisis.
Down and Out in the Gig Economy
Journalism's dependence on part-time freelancers has been bad for the industry—not to mention writers like me.
