Arindrajit Dube brilliantly dissects how wages really are set—but overlooks the particular hurdles that care workers face.
Books, Arts and Culture
Read reviews and commentary on books, movies, video, tv, radio, podcasts, streaming, documentary, media, religion, history, sports, arts and entertainment, social media, Hollywood
Vertical Vertigo
Brian Callaci’s book describes the deregulatory strategies franchisors use to protect their profits.
The Legacy of the Subway Vigilante
Two new books reveal how a 1980s shooting reflected rising right-wing attitudes in a rapidly gentrifying New York.
Capital Ideas
Two books on the history of capitalism provide lessons for how to tame it.
‘Project Hail Mary’ Shows What Real Heroism Looks Like
It isn’t shooting the bad guy. It’s sacrificing to save your alien rock pal.
Sundance Is Over. Long Live Sundance.
Will there be life after Utah (and Robert Redford) for America’s biggest film festival?
Bad Bunny Bowl
Fresh off Grammy glory, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is set to perform on America’s biggest stage. It’s shaping up to be Puerto Rico’s moon-landing moment.
One Bovino After Another
Which came first? Col. Steven J. Lockjaw or commander-at-large Gregory K. Bovino?
Lula’s Investment in Anti-Fascist Brazilian Films Wins Big at Golden Globes
The Secret Agent won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film and Best Actor, increasing Americans’ understanding of Brazilian cinema and history.
‘Cadillac Desert’ Reconsidered
Marc Reisner’s 1986 book demonstrates how a hypertrophic judiciary combines with America’s deadlocked legislature to make vast swaths of Western water policy dependent on 19th-century legal norms.

