‘Left Bank’ Explores Ideas, Art and Passion in the City of Light
The artists and writers of Paris' Left Bank brought scandal and controversy in their time. In so doing they shaped the artistic and intellectual milieu of the modern world.
Culture
Don’t Google It! How Search Engines Reinforce Racism
Algorithms of Oppression addresses the growing concern about the consequences of commercial control over information and the harm it does to communities.
‘1997’ Explores Laying the Groundwork for Brexit and Beyond
Richard Power Sayeed's fascinating look at the optimism of New Labour and Cool Britannia in 1997, and the subsequent agony which followed.
Environmental Activist Bill McKibben on How Civility, Humor, and Soul Music Is Essential to Resistance
Talking with PopMatters about his recent environmental-themed novel, Radio Free Vermont, Bill McKibben brings joy to the seriousness of environmental activism.
‘Radio Free Vermont’ Showcases the Political Power of Ordinary People
Bill McKibben's novel asks readers to value resistance movements that embrace humor, creativity, and civility while inspiring activism as part of our everyday lives.
The Roots of Romanticism in David Bowie’s Berlin Triptych
In its response to modernity, Romanticism's grand enterprise inspires us to question the current state of things, to ponder how we might "be heroes / just for one day".
Catch Dave Hickey’s Collection of Criticism a ‘Perfect Wave’ and You’ll Enjoy the Ride
In Hickey's formulation, what is raw is hot. What is cooked is cool. Art and democracy are better served by cool cats, not hotheads.
Johnny Hallyday Was More Than Just a Kitschy Gallic Misreading of Rock
It's hard to think of another male pop singer who could hold his own alongside exceptional female vocalists like Céline Dion.
Why Aren’t Safe Spaces and Brave Spaces Working in Academia?
University campuses are seething. But telling people to get along with each other is not the answer.
‘A Brief History of Feminism’ Tells It and Shows It Like It Is
"There can be no one 'feminism'," writes Antje Schrupp.
Louise Thompson Patterson and the Long Tradition of Radical Struggle
Reading the struggle of Patterson and her comrades a century ago reminds us that today's racist violence is not a temporary aberration but a deeply rooted and pervasive flaw in American society.
‘Blood at the Root’ and the Cultivation of Racial Hatred in America
The story of Georgia's all-white Forsyth County and how they made it that way.