For Pleasure: A Letter
Difficulty is not an inherent virtue. A book must on some level give pleasure.
Fall 2025
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Politics As Psychological Fulfillment: Judith Stein Responds to Rick Perlstein
Part three of our debate on the rise of the right.
“The View From 30,000 Feet”:
Rick Perlstein Responds to Judith Stein
The author of Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan debates reviewer Judith Stein on the rise of the right in the 1970s.
The Rise of Reagan’s America
In his latest book, Rick Perlstein tells lively stories at the expense of the political complexity.
Bartlebys All!
Few institutions have offered themselves as less promising for the novelist than the modern office. And yet…
Whose Moon Is It Anyway?
Managing the commons is fraught enough here on Earth, but decisions will be all the more complicated when dealing with the great commons of the sky.
Introduction: The Gunshot Concert
Introducing our special Fall edition on Politics and the Novel—with essays by Nikil Saval, Vivian Gornick, Benjamin Hale, Helen Dewitt, Nina Martyris, and Roxane Gay—David Marcus asks: what happened to the political novel?
Not an Option
The current state of American two-party politics is profoundly depressing—and shameful. In Congress, the Republicans rail against any program that helps workers and the poor, block any chance for undocumented women and men to become citizens, oppose every attempt to …
How the Right Gets Us Wrong
Because Dissent loves totalitarian politics.
Decline of the Strike 
A new edition of Jeremy Brecher’s classic Strike reminds readers of the sheer size, violence, and power of labor struggles now erased from American historical consciousness .
Bad Feminists
Women may be writing their own fantasies now, but these are still fantasies of conventionality.
Six Fables
Six fables by Syrian poet Osama Alomar.
How Capitalism Got Its Name
It was not until the late nineteenth century that the word “capitalism” acquired the meaning it has for us today.
Criminals and Culture Makers
In 1970s New York City, urban decay gave birth to graffiti culture, an act of defiance and self-affirmation that terrified the middle classes. But today, “street art” usually symbolizes gentrification.
A New Agenda for American Families and the Economy
Too often, so-called women’s economic issues appear as an afterthought, rather than as fundamental to family economic security and the economy overall.
