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An open book with magnifying glass.

Illustration by Aaron Lowell Denton

An open book with magnifying glass.

Does It Hold Up?

Classic works, reconsidered

Illustration by Aaron Lowell Denton

Does It Hold Up?

Classic works, reconsidered

Illustration of the book cover for Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach

Was Fat Is a Feminist Issue Liberating? Or Weight-Loss Propaganda?

Susie Orbach’s 1978 book is a fascinating snapshot of diet and physical culture in a very different era.

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Illustration of Amusing Ourselves to Death book cover with a magnifying glass

How Entertainment Mangled Public Discourse

Neil Postman’s jeremiad against TV seems rather quaint today—and not just because he was shouting into the wind and knew it.

Illustration of a book cover for The Mask of Sanity with a magnifying glass

The Man Who Invented the “Psychopath”

Hervey Cleckley wanted to treat the most overlooked psychiatric patients. Instead his work was used to demonize them.

Camille Bromley

Illustration of Hons and Rebels book cover with a magnifying glass

Jessica Mitford’s Escape From Fascism

“Hons and Rebels” might easily be mistaken for a freewheeling memoir of aristocratic life. It’s also a study of intense ideological conflict in a family.