Series
Public Bookshelf
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Keyword of the Week: Artificial Intelligence
21 years ago today, a human was defeated at chess by a computer for the first time. So we looked back to our coverage of artificial intelligence, filling our Public Bookshelf with articles on how William Gibson’s Neuromancer predicted our current AI fears, how we might fall in love with robots, the dangerous ubiquity of the smartphone, and the unseen algorithms that produce real-world harm. A…
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Keyword of the Week: Working Class
The reboot of the sitcom Roseanne—which championed a narrow vision of working-class family life—has been cancelled. So we looked back to our coverage of the working class, filling our Public Bookshelf with articles on Martin Luther King Jr.’s work with Baltimore unions, an interview with the author of Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America, how the very…
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Keyword of the Week: American Internment
We have no words for the detention of migrant children without their parents: except to note that this practice is legal, just like Japanese American internment, African American slavery, and indigenous relocation camps. So we looked back to our coverage of American internment, filling our Public Bookshelf with articles on a child hero who resisted Japanese American relocation, the…
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Keyword of the Week: Mothers
It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday! If you know a mom who loves to read, send her this week’s Public Bookshelf. It features four of our favorite PB articles about motherhood, including a review of Alison Bechdel’s Are You My Mother?, and an essay on Sally Mann’s extraordinary family photography. The Bingewatch: Mother Winona 9.15.2016 Sarah Kessler Since its release in mid-July, Stranger Things,…
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Keyword of the Week: Animals
It’s nonhuman appreciation week at Public Books. This week’s Public Bookshelf features four PB articles about animals, on topics ranging from animal sentience to the anthropomorphic world of Zootopia. What Is It Like to Be an Elephant? 12.15.2016 Matt Margini The Harambe incident demonstrated one coherent principle: when nonhuman animals lose political representation, as they inevitably do, it often becomes the…
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Keyword of the Week: France
On Sunday, eyes were on the French election as two candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, advanced to a runoff that will determine the presidency next month. This week’s Public Bookshelf features four of our favorite PB articles about France, ranging from a special series on Thomas Piketty (in collaboration with La Vie des Idées) to an essay about the PEN–Charlie Hebdo controversy.…
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Keyword of the Week: Hunger
Humanitarian groups are projecting four impending famines, in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen. This week’s Public Bookshelf features Public Books articles about the history of food crises and hunger. Syria’s Wartime Famine at 100: “Martyrs of the Grass” 12.15.2016 Najwa al-Qattan In the days leading up to the Muslim holiday of the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) in October 2013, several Syrian clerics issued…
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Keyword of the Week: Supreme Court
After four days of confirmation hearings, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has vowed to filibuster the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This week’s Public Bookshelf features four of our favorite PB articles about the Supreme Court, on topics ranging from Antonin Scalia’s originalism to Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir. The High Power of the Lower Courts 12.7.2016 Doni Gewirtzman In 2010 the National…
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Keyword of the Week: Healthcare
House Republicans are attempting to replace the Affordable Care Act with legislation that that would disadvantage sick and low-income Americans. This week’s Public Bookshelf features four articles about health and health care, on topics ranging from immigrants and illness to comics about medicine. Show Me Where it Hurts: Part 1 11.15.2015 Jared Gardner Illness, mental and physical, is arguably comics’ invisible master theme, deeply woven into…
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Keyword of the Week: Russia
When we partnered with La Vie des Idées last year for a three-part series on “Russia Today,” we couldn’t have guessed how timely those essays would feel in 2017. This week’s Public Bookshelf features the articles in that series, as well as an essay by Masha Gessen on Putin’s effort to “retrofit” totalitarianism. Retrofitting Totalitarianism 12.15.2015 Masha Gessen No sooner…
