Nancy Lemann sets her sad screwball novels of manners in the closed-off world of upper-crust white New Orleans that she grew up in.

The lessons that Donald Trump learned from Roy Cohn—lie, cheat, engage in unlimited corruption—now shape official government policy in the US.

Ashton Politanoff’s new novel tells the story of sad dads and washed-up jocks vying for a phantom ideal of masculinity.

Nuclear weapons pose an apocalyptic threat, and yet the issue has largely faded from public consciousness. In the era of Trump and Putin, it is imperative that we pursue international disarmament.

Willem de Kooning’s works on paper document his efforts to find ways of retaining both image and abstraction, depth and flatness.

Two recent books employ inventive approaches to read against the grain of the archive left by those who defended and benefited from human bondage.

Charles Lamb’s camp, mischievous, melancholic alter ego, Elia, owes much to his sister, Mary, with whom he lived for forty years, absorbing her “rambling chat.”

In a society still solidly creationist in outlook, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was the first working scientist to embrace the modern idea that species or lineages of organisms can evolve over time.

Mario Vargas Llosa’s final novel follows a thwarted dreamer who is writing a book that represents all of Peru through the sentimental dance music known as the vals peruano.

The poet Lisa Robertson’s second novel achieves flights of erudition in its loving, archival meanderings around the city of Paris.

The New York Philharmonic’s new music director is admired by composers and audiences alike. Can he lead the company through the crisis facing orchestras everywhere?

Trying to learn repeatable lessons from a decade of mass protests around the world

Almost ten years ago, I met a retired federal agent for lunch. What he witnessed on the job seemed to touch every part of recent American history.

Martin Sherman’s landmark 1979 play about Nazi persecution of homosexuals was a belated triumph for its playwright.

For the artists and intellectuals who lived there across two decades of pioneering residency programs, Georgia’s Ossabaw Island was a potent source of inspiration.

The vast, hectic watercolors of Gladys Nilsson are full of celebrations and small tragedies alike.