How Reconsidering Atticus Finch Makes Us Reconsider America
In his new book, historian Joseph Crespino offers lessons drawn from Harper Lee's ambivalent treatment of this iconic character.
Books
How to Keep the Internet of Things From Killing Us All
Author Bruce Schneier warns about the coming hyper-networked world where all your devices are talking to each other.
Home Libraries Confer Long-Term Benefits
A large new study finds people who grew up in book-filled homes have higher reading, math, and technological skills.
How Calls for Civility Led to the Civil War
Stephen E. Maizlish's new book discusses a time much like our own, when radicals in Congress hurled insults while moderates bemoaned a lack of civility.
Childhood Poverty Is Linked to Poorer Cognitive Skills in Old Age
Cognitively speaking, there may be no way to recover from a disadvantaged childhood.
Has Hurricane Florence Destroyed Records of America's Slave Trade?
Historical archives housed in universities, courthouses, and local libraries are at heightened risk from flooding and mold.
Emily Jungmin Yoon Explores Trauma Across Borders and Generations
Yoon's debut poetry collection draws together contemporary political critique with tales of the comfort women conscripted into sexual slavery during World War II.
The Third Reich's Supporters in the United States
A nervous storm cloud of historical might-have-beens—a fitting companion to our age of diffuse paranoia.
PS Picks: John Carey's 'The Intellectuals and the Masses'
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
An Interview With Mary Robinette Kowal
The author (and puppeteer) discusses climate change, discrimination, and how to write science fiction with a happy ending.
Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side
Sociologist Eve Ewing analyzes the closings from multiple angles.
The Hazards Beneath Us
A new book explores how, for decades, businesses of all sizes have been burying hazardous waste all over cities.
Americans Are Reading Fewer Novels, but More Poetry
New National Endowment for the Arts research finds arts attendance is rising, but remains below 2002 levels.
PS Picks: Nicole Chung's Debut Book, 'All You Can Ever Know'
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
How Adrienne Rich Wakes Us Up
Looking back at Adrienne Rich's politics and prose—and toward a radical feminist future.
From Conservative Patriot to Communist Vanguard: An Interview With H. Bruce Franklin
Franklin's new memoir, Crash Course, blends the story of his political awakening with the history of the Vietnam War.
Climate Struggle and Collective Action at This Year's Hugo Awards
Many of this year's nominees highlight environmental degradation and liberation struggles.
'Patsy Cline Was a Serious Boundary-Pusher': A Conversation With John Lingan
The writer discusses his new book about a mountaintop honky-tonk in Virginia, and the shifting socioeconomic divides of Patsy Cline's hometown.
How the Owens Bottle Company Helped End American Child Labor
An excerpt from Vince Beiser's new book about how sand transformed civilization.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers Make Good Romantic Partners
New research suggests they have more mature ideas about how real-world relationships work.
Martha Nussbaum Wants Americans to Calm Down
A new book by one of America's foremost philosophers recommends talk therapy to a troubled nation that probably needs something stronger.
'Goodbye, Sweet Girl' Explores the Complex Realities of Domestic Abuse
Kelly Sundberg's new book never glosses over the more affectionate moments with her abuser. In the process, she paints a far more insidious picture of their relationship: one that shows how an abuser can slowly creep into his victim's life.
'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' Is a Narcoleptic Triumph
Ottessa Moshfegh's unsettling, darkly funny new novel asks readers to wake up.
PS Picks: 'The Ambition Decisions'
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.