Blog

Soviet science text

A Soviet science book for children includes some stunning art. A rough translation of the title: Earth Is Still A Long Way Off.

Read more



Gessen on Amis

Ask and ye, well, might just be lucky. Keith Gessen ponders Martin Amis’ “five-year excursion through Russian history during the global war on terror.”

Read more



Auden profiled

The great W.H. Auden had little patience for bourgeois sensibilities. “If it’s romance you’re looking for,” he told a lover, “go fuck a journalist.”

Read more



Keeping Iraq’s library open

Iraq’s national library was looted and burned in 2003. Now its director is blogging about the bombings, shootings and death threats he and his staff face.

Read more



Lost Mountain paperback

Erik Reece’s Lost Mountain, a look at the devastating effects of radical strip-mining in Appalachia, is out in paperback. On Air America, he discusses U.S. energy policy and more.

Read more



Newsletter Signup

For regular updates, subscribe to my free newsletter.

Newsletter

You might want to subscribe to my free Substack newsletter, Ancestor Trouble, if the name makes intuitive sense to you.