Publisher’s Note

Austerity

by John R. MacArthur, on December 21, 2022

America’s political and cultural divide is widening along with the gap between the ultrarich and everyone else. Read More

Semi-fascism

by John R. MacArthur, on November 23, 2022

“Trump is morally and constitutionally illiterate—a vile plutocrat—but he is no evil genius.” Read More

Paris Memories

by John R. MacArthur, on October 31, 2022

“That’s a loss for Americans, who, in any case, hardly know how to make a subtle or nuanced film anymore.” Read More

Civilization in Peril

by John R. MacArthur, on September 16, 2022

“The former president is but a symptom of a deeper degradation in the body politic.” Read More

A Different Kind of Politician

by John R. MacArthur, on August 9, 2022

As Arenas told me, “when something is cheap, someone somewhere is paying for it.” Read More

Live from the War

by John R. MacArthur, on May 13, 2022

“So much cruelty could have been avoided with a modicum of understanding of the realities of war.” Read More

“Small” Disasters

by John R. MacArthur, on April 12, 2022

“The damage done to Kyiv and Mariupol is visible to the naked eye, but many other horrors continue in the shadows when a big crisis takes over the media.”

The Fate of Ukraine

by John R. MacArthur, on March 16, 2022

While I am one of the critics who saw NATO expansion into former Soviet bloc countries as a dangerous provocation to Vladimir Putin, I’m stunned by his savagery, and by…

Barbarism

by John R. MacArthur, on February 19, 2022

“The barbarians of January 6 clearly had no idea what they wanted to achieve. It was a matter of fierce resentment boiling over—what philosopher Jacques Rancière calls ‘shared hating.’”

“Le Monde” of Today

by John R. MacArthur, on January 29, 2022

“How best to respond to the threat from the extreme right, given the sudden rise of Zemmour, whose level of support verges on 14 percent?” Read More

Hypocrisy

by John R. MacArthur, on December 18, 2021

“I’m sure a good number of people found that scene to be amusing and saw Biden’s little doze as an apt illustration of the President’s difficulties in achieving his aims.”…

Biden Turns Trumpist on Tariffs

by John R. MacArthur, on November 12, 2021

“How to explain the Democrats’ sudden switch from free-trade dogma to free-trade restrictions?” Read More

Six Minutes of Silence

by John R. MacArthur, on October 14, 2021

I would have preferred those few moments of silent reflection to be multiplied by ten, if only to encourage the political and media leadership to shut up and think about…

Questions

by John R. MacArthur, on August 24, 2021

“Would Henri Alleg’s La question have been published—would it have seen the light of day—without Jérôme Lindon’s moral fortitude?“ Read More

The Fall of Baghdad

by John R. MacArthur, on August 18, 2021

The United States must decide who gets left behind Read More

Toe the Line

by John R. MacArthur, on July 14, 2021

“I get impatient reading too many points of view that are similar to my own.” Read More

Regarding Michael Pollan’s New Book This is Your Mind on Plants

by John R. MacArthur, on July 8, 2021

Michael Pollan’s new collection of journalism, This is Your Mind on Plants, recounts for the first time publicly the story of his decision to leave out key passages of his…

News You Can Use

by John R. MacArthur, on June 23, 2021

“How did these clever policymakers in Congress—supported by hundreds of academic economists—achieve their ambitions?” Read More

New Deal 2.0?

by John R. MacArthur, on May 13, 2021

“Apparently, the assassin who killed Bernie Sanders’ presidential aspirations and his popular appeal for Medicare for All is now donning the clothing of a New Deal social democrat.”

The French Fiasco

by John R. MacArthur, on May 3, 2021

“How did the Trump Administration manage to succeed where France had failed so spectacularly? How can it be that 56 percent of American adults are now vaccinated against COVID-19 compared…

In Memoriam: John Cullen

by John R. MacArthur, on April 23, 2021

Remembering the humor, warmth, and precision of the talented linguist Read More

The New McCarthyism

by John R. MacArthur, on March 1, 2021

“Obviously, this is not to say that a New Stalinism is on the rise.” Read More

The Reconciliation

by John R. MacArthur, on February 8, 2021

“So what is to be done about our 74 million fellow citizens who voted for a crook, and about the boisterous minority among them who would be willing to follow…

Publishing John le Carré

by John R. MacArthur, on January 6, 2021

“When I traveled from Paris to Prague in 1983, I deliberately took the train because I wanted to pass through the Iron Curtain overland, to feel the fear of being…

The Former Regime

by John R. MacArthur, on December 12, 2020

“The sordid self-interest that warps the public sphere in the United States didn’t begin with Trump in the White House.” Read More

The Referendum

by John R. MacArthur, on November 2, 2020

Such fervent admiration for a man who openly traffics in swindles and lies—where did it come from? Read More

The Real Danger

by John R. MacArthur, on October 5, 2020

Democracy by distance? Read More

The Authentic Left

by John R. MacArthur, on August 17, 2020

“The reputation of the Times as a left-wing newspaper has led it to make some absurd efforts in justifying its new status as a progressive beacon. . . .”

Digital Blinders

by John R. MacArthur, on July 10, 2020

“Why wait to read reports that appeared on the website of France’s leading daily the previous day?” Read More

Holy Writ

by John R. MacArthur, on June 8, 2020

“Surprised by the assignment, I replied that I usually investigated a story before I arrived at a conclusion.” Read More

From the Archive

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