This thread is great, and I will only add that those of us who have been lucky enough to work with John know that he is the menschiest of mensches (in addition to being a wonderful editor and a terrific writer).
The publication of two new books on "mattering" β one by a philosopher, the other geared toward self-help β is arguably a reaction to the nihilism that threatens to engulf us all.
Wonderful to see @historianheather.bsky.social's book about the Bernie Goetz shootings (along with one by Eliot Williams) reviewed by @jenszalai.bsky.social in @nytimes.com. Can't wait to read Heather's study of the "rebirth of white rage" in the 1980s.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/b...
I spent some time with C. Thi Nguyen, a philosopher of games, whose brilliant new book offers some insights into how to live in our gamified world. π
And Renee Goodβs last words appear to be βWeβre not mad at you.β
RIP. Tarr adapted a couple of Laszlo Krasznahorkaiβs novels into films, including the 7-hour long Satantango.
The adminβs reflexive assertions of domination as the rationale for everything suggest that Jamelleβs suspicions β that theyβre doing it for gender β is right on the money.
Reminded of Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes's "Unmaking the Presidency," which was published 100 years ago (i.e. in January 2020)
www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/b...
Field βalso reminds the intellectuals of the New Right of something they all too easily forget: They can indulge in fantasies of an authoritarian regime because of the freedom and security afforded by the liberal democracy they loathe.β
A terrific review of @lkatfield.bsky.social βs βFurious Minds.β
"Field detects a strain of decadence underlying the fanaticism, with soft, comfortable men mistaking cruel titillation for insight and trying their mightiest to look tough: βIt is unseemly, and it is unmanly, and some of you will miss your liberalism when itβs gone.β www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/b...
Wrote about βFurious Minds,β Laura Fieldβs excellent new book on how right-wing intellectuals helped the fringe become the rug
Wrote about reading Hannah Arendt 50 years after her death, why we keep invoking her, and what it is we keep wanting her to tell us.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...
βThey put handcuffs on us, a chain over our waist and our feet, like criminals. They transported us in the kind of van that you put dogs in. We were all sitting in a row facing a white wall.β¦ We boarded the plane and it was fullβ¦. A lady in her 70s kept throwing up.β
On the one hand, the Jeeves stories; on the other, βThe Remains of the Day.β
"Modern dentistry is great. But your dentist doesnβt insist you worship him.β www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
The 4-month-old infant in this photo was being held by his mother at her green card interview when she was arrested by ICE.
What Clara said. Always struck by how so many smart people β who otherwise decry the deterioration of the discourse β will take the (rage) bait.
Wrote about the argument that cultural stagnation allowed r-w reactionaries to fill in the vacuum. And now that some of them are at the center of power, what comes next?
What might look edgy in the recesses of 4chan looks craven when blasted out from official U.S. government accounts.
βWith creators no longer required to pursue artistic excellence,β Marx writes, βculture became a lowest-common-denominator battle for attention.β
@jenszalai.bsky.social
@wdavidmarx.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/b...
βWhat might look edgy in the recesses of 4chan looks craven when blasted from official U.S. government accounts.β @jenszalai.bsky.social
Even better:
At the center of his bet is that the currency of Argentina β a debt-ridden country whose economy has required more than 20 bailouts β is undervalued.
Sometimes a bare recitation of the facts yields a devastating parenthetical:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...
An insightful essay. A few years ago I wrote about the literature of shame, including questions about shamelessness, salutary kinds of shame and what shaming can (and cannot) be for:
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/b...
And one more thing: Itβs good to see a Hungarian who isnβt OrbΓ‘n make international news.
I said this when Krasznahorkai won a National Book Award for translation several years ago, and Iβll say it again: This can only encourage Americans to learn how to pronounce the βszβ sound, and I am here for it!
LΓ‘szlΓ³ Krasznahorkai has won the Nobel! Hereβs an essay I wrote about him in 2012:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
I was struck by that line too. I reviewed Walterβs book βHow Civil Wars Startβ when it was published way back in 2022. her analysis was incisive; I was hoping it wouldnβt be prescient:
www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/b...
