The New York Review of Books

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Deborah Eisenberg on Zohran Mamdani
01/02/2026

Deborah Eisenberg on Zohran Mamdani

In less suspenseful years a mayoral election in New York City would be a purely local event, but in precarious 2025 it was a national and even

Corey Robin on Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric of excellence
01/02/2026

Corey Robin on Zohran Mamdani’s rhetoric of excellence

Zohran Mamdani has introduced several changes to American politics--joining ideological maximalism to policy minimalism, crafting a winning political

“Last winter [the Trump administration] cut off funding to Princeton’s climate model on the grounds that the results it ...
01/02/2026

“Last winter [the Trump administration] cut off funding to Princeton’s climate model on the grounds that the results it was generating were causing ‘a phenomenon known as climate anxiety.’” —Bill McKibben

I'm writing this in the last days of the northern hemisphere's autumn in 2025. Over recent weeks we've seen a hurricane hit Jamaica with wind speeds a few

“The existence of Believe is its own best counterproof: in a world where religious truths were as obvious and reasonable...
01/02/2026

“The existence of Believe is its own best counterproof: in a world where religious truths were as obvious and reasonable as Douthat wants them to be, there would be no need for him to write it.” —Robert P. Baird

Ross Douthat's usual contrarian approach, in his recent book Believe, leads to a curiously impotent, watered-down account of religious experience.

Mamdani’s “program will be called socialist, but it will certainly deliver workers to their jobs less worried and distra...
01/02/2026

Mamdani’s “program will be called socialist, but it will certainly deliver workers to their jobs less worried and distracted and discontent…. This should be acceptable enough to the capitalists among us.” —Marilynne Robinson

New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to absorb individual costs into the collective life of the city, but whether that will be enough is an open question.

Michael Dirda on the horror stories, satires, weird tales, and supernatural fables of one of the 19th century’s most ima...
01/02/2026

Michael Dirda on the horror stories, satires, weird tales, and supernatural fables of one of the 19th century’s most imaginative writers, Fitz-James O’Brien

Little known today, Fitz-James O'Brien deserves serious attention for developing some of science fiction's most familiar tropes--among them microcosmic worlds, invisible monsters, time slips, and robots.

Tanvi Misra on what Zohran Mamdani might deliver for immigrant communities
01/02/2026

Tanvi Misra on what Zohran Mamdani might deliver for immigrant communities

Come January, New York City will be led by an immigrant--and, in a series of firsts, by a Muslim Indian American from Uganda. This kind of representation

“I was delighted to learn of my [bloodletting] treatment. Short of dating a vampire, what could be better, I thought, th...
01/02/2026

“I was delighted to learn of my [bloodletting] treatment. Short of dating a vampire, what could be better, I thought, than to experience the eighteenth century in the setting of a modern, hygienic clinic?” —Clair Wills

A rare genetic mutation is best treated the nineteenth-century way, with bloodletting, showing up the strengths and weaknesses of the NHS.

Yiyun Li on child’s play in Beryl Bainbridge’s An Awfully Big Adventure
01/01/2026

Yiyun Li on child’s play in Beryl Bainbridge’s An Awfully Big Adventure

In Beryl Bainbridge's novels, to die is an awfully big adventure--and so is to live.

Isma’il Kushkush on fleeing Khartoum
01/01/2026

Isma’il Kushkush on fleeing Khartoum

On the afternoon of Friday, April 14, 2023, as the last days of Ramadan drew to an end, I went to have iftar with my extended family in Omdurman, across

Andrew Katzenstein on Maria Bamford’s wildly inventive comedy
01/01/2026

Andrew Katzenstein on Maria Bamford’s wildly inventive comedy

Maria Bamford's wild and constantly inventive stand-up style relies on her never flinching from the most difficult realities.

“AI is supposed to create great wealth, but what claim will people in general have on it? Their only part in it all will...
01/01/2026

“AI is supposed to create great wealth, but what claim will people in general have on it? Their only part in it all will have been to get out of the way.” —Marilynne Robinson

New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to absorb individual costs into the collective life of the city, but whether that will be enough is an open question.

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