Culture Trust

Columns

In the House of a Thousand Likes

Zachariah Webb

February 16, 2018

In the heart of the heart of the creative class sits Spring Street Social Society—a membership club for our times.

Cut the Music

Liz Pelly

February 12, 2018

The NYPD’s secret M.A.R.C.H. operation has been closing the city’s venues for years—should it be abolished?

The Thou of Zadie Smith

Lauren Oyler

February 06, 2018

In Feel Free, Zadie Smith's first nonfiction collection, the author courts the paradox of infinite subjects.

The Ovid of Loserdom

J.W. McCormack

January 22, 2018

In his second and perhaps final story collection, the author of Jesus' Son glimpses an out-of-reach infinity.

Faux-Pas at MOMA

Raad Rahman

January 16, 2018

I lined up at MOMA for a close-up view of how the brutal business of global garment-making was to be cleaned up for aesthetic presentation.

Slim Returns

Stephen Kearse

January 02, 2018

Given its emphasis on revenge, any real differences between Eminem’s music and a CNN-bashing Trump tweet are razor-thin.

Never Get off the Boat

Brendan C. Byrne

December 20, 2017

Even if seasteading isn’t just a floating pyramid scheme, it has tied itself to a dangerous political aim.

Paradise Tossed

Jessa Crispin

November 30, 2017

Stephen Greenblatt’s new book blames everything on Adam and Eve, but not in a religious way.

Panic in Textopolis

Nathaniel Friedman

November 22, 2017

Roundly criticized, yet supposedly anodyne, "The Emoji Movie" is a capitalist trojan horse for the grade school set.

The Professional Friends of YouTube

Kaila Philo

November 21, 2017

The new generation of YouTube stars has unwittingly created a solipsistic bubble of political weirdness.

Phony War, Phony Peace

Ryan Ruby

November 21, 2017

Julien Gracq's "Balcony in the Forest" (1958) wonders whether we see too many futures at once.

The Trash of the System

Dan Duray

November 20, 2017

Is the art world total bullshit? Two new films offer an enthusiastic, "Yes!"