Books & Ideas

Division Rules But Addition Makes More Sense

After nearly 20 years working in economic policy, Heather McGhee realized she needed a different approach to understand the fault lines of American...

4:49 pm, August 4, 2021
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Making a Case for Gene Editing as the Story of Our Future

Walter Isaacson suggests that if one is searching for a summer read, a nail-biting mystery perhaps, his latest biography on the woman behind gene...

4:45 pm, August 4, 2021
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Embedding With Extremists Does Not Lead to Empathy

When Andrew Marantz, a New Yorker staff writer, attended the “DeploraBall” on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2016, he didn’t expect there...

4:41 pm, August 4, 2021
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Edginess of Real Life Is More Than Enough

It’s a rainy evening and you turn on the television to find your favorite sitcom. A small wave of comfort washes over you and you let that feeling...

4:37 pm, August 4, 2021
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Looking to Art to Tell New Story of the Cold War

In 1947, two years after the defeat of Germany, a relatively obscure, Wyoming-born artist set his canvas on the floor of his Long Island home,...

4:32 pm, August 4, 2021
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Revisiting Anew the Tragic Loss Of Robert Kennedy and His Mission

Following Robert F. Kennedy’s path through the civil rights movement, historian Patricia Sullivan said she couldn’t help but well up with emotion...

4:28 pm, August 4, 2021
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Food for Thought: What You Eat Is a Mixed Bag of Manipulation

Mark Bittman is the author of more than 30 books, including the familiar yellow-covered household staple How to Cook Everything. But that doesn’t...

4:24 pm, August 4, 2021
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Revealing the Ugly Truth of Social Media Required Old School Journalism

Cecilia Kang is a reporter for the New York Times, covering the technology field where short and informative sentences are often the norm. Co-writing...

11:37 am, August 4, 2021
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Staying Present to the Reality of Climate Change

Elizabeth Kolbert won a Pulitzer Prize for her bestseller, The Sixth Extinction, and is a staff writer at The New Yorker. In her new book, Under a...

11:31 am, August 4, 2021
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Finding Depth in Writing About an Unfamiliar Subject

Sadeqa Johnson has always written stories about subjects she knows well, but the story of Yellow Wife called to her on a different level — one she...

11:25 am, August 4, 2021
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Putting Stories About Black Women and the Black Church Center Stage

Fiction readers can be glad that Deesha Philyaw’s oldest daughter had trouble napping.

11:11 am, August 4, 2021
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Bringing Authors and Readers Together Again

Starting Thursday and running through Sunday, the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival 2021 Summer Series once again invites book lovers to unite to hear...