Louis Menand

Some scholars say that it’s to blame for our political dysfunction—and that we need to start over.

In the online era, brick-and-mortar book retailers have been forced to redefine themselves.

Defining a social type is a way of defining an era. What can the time of the young urban professional tell us about our own?

A classic New Yorker account of the Henry Ward Beecher adultery trial recalls a time in America that seems both incomprehensible and familiar.

He was one of the world’s most celebrated and beloved stars. Then his adopted country turned against him.

It was the first Southern school to be integrated by court order, and the town reluctantly prepared to comply. Then an acolyte of Ezra Pound’s showed up.

The free market used to be touted as the cure for all our problems; now it’s taken to be the cause of them.

The concept was devised in postwar America, in response to the cultural and commercial demands of the era. Now we’re stuck with it.

The partisan redistricting tactics of cracking and packing aren’t merely flaws in the system—they are the system.

Before she met John Lennon, she was a significant figure in avant-garde circles and had created masterpieces. Did celebrity deprive her of her due as an artist?

From boomers to zoomers, the concept gets social history all wrong.

The writer’s signature style of ending—a final, thrilling note—has the touch of magic that distinguishes the form at its best.

McCarthy never sent a single “subversive” to jail, but, decades later, the spirit of his conspiracy-mongering endures.

Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth transformed America’s pastime by becoming a new kind of star.

A brave band of scholars set out to save us from racism and sexism. What happened?

Other than being alive during the 1960s, the baby boomers had almost nothing to do with the era's social and political upheaval.

The declaration's words and sentiments have inspired nations and movements around the world.

Why we still read Orwell’s book of prophecy.

How Plessy v. Ferguson shaped the history of racial discrimination in America.

What happens when we find out writers aren't who they said they were.

The political scientist argues that the desire of identity groups for recognition is a key threat to liberalism.

Protests, populism, and progressivism all clashed in a battle royal. But what really drives election results?

Inside a famous Cold War deception.

"On the Road" is a sad and somewhat self-consciously lyrical story about loneliness, insecurity, and failure. It’s also a story about guys who want to be with other guys.