The Latest

Untitled (Southwest), a painting by Cobi Moules, whose work was on view last October at Lyons Wier Gallery, in New York City. Courtesy the artist. This painting appears in the Readings section of the April 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

Should we condemn hypocrites, when we can’t help but be hypocrites ourselves?

A straightforward strategy for reversing the rightward trend of both parties

How to be your own best doctor, a drone’s-eye view of America, and drought threatens the Southwest

Pie Fight Interior 2, a painting by Adrian Ghenie, whose work was on view last May at Pace Gallery, in New York City. © The artist. Courtesy Pace Gallery, New York City. This painting appears in the Readings section of the March 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

Remembering a contributor and friend

A plane vanishes over Southeast Asia, Russia and Ukraine stake out their positions on Crimea, and Canada expands its Moose Sex Project

A study in forced neutrality

The state Supreme Court tells Kansas legislators to restore funding for education. Will they comply?

Trespassing in the library of a dead genius

Barbara Ehrenreich on writing, social activism, and the possible existence of a mystical Other

Despite lingering effects from a 2010 earthquake, Haiti still throws a good party

Crisis in Crimea, corruption in Turkey, and the inadequate diversity of Google Doodles

An untitled photograph by Kim Thue from Dead Traffic, a book of his work in Sierra Leone, published in 2012 by dienacht Publishing. Courtesy the artist and dienacht Publishing. This photograph appears in the Readings section of the March 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

Tracing an original edition of Solomon Northup’s narrative to a slaveholder

Jennifer Percy on lyricism in nonfiction, the demons of American veterans, and circumventing expected narratives of PTSD

Upheaval in Ukraine, yobbery in the United Kingdom, and a historic douche in the United States

Shoreham, a painting by William Mackinnon, whose work was on view last November at Utopian Slumps, in Melbourne. © The artist. Courtesy Morton Fine Art, Washington, D.C. This image appears in the Readings section of the March 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

A fan’s notes

A U.N. report compares North Korean prison camps to Nazi concentration camps, Barack Obama plays through drought in California, and Canada’s Inuit are warned away from raw Beluga meat

Leonard Cohen’s first public musical performance

Fremont, Nebraska, votes to keep its anti-immigration ordinance — at a possible cost of millions

The decline of America’s left, Barbara Ehrenreich, Norman Rush, and more

“Pharaonic exclusion is their motto; contempt for human scale and ordinary people their raison d’être.”

The state Supreme Court prepares to decide the fate of Kansas public-school funding

The Winter Olympic Games open in Sochi, Al Qaeda splits with ISIS, and a cat named Quiver survives an arrow shot

A trip to Murakami’s jazz club

Is it worth carrying on with the Olympics?

“Buddhist Retreat near Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu Natal,” a photograph by Santu Mofokeng, whose work was on view in November as part of the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Courtesy the artist and Lunetta, Bartz, Maker, Johannesburg. This image appears in the Readings section of the February 2014 issue of Harper’s Magazine.