August 1, 2012

Stanley Aronowitz on C. Wright Mills as Public Intellectual

“Mills is an exhilarating exemplar of the role and reach of the public radical intellectual and, at the same time, a sobering reminder of how far the human sciences have declined since the end of the Vietnam war.”—Stanley Aronowitz In...

August 1, 2012

Stephen Bronner, Author of Modernism at the Barricades, Takes The Page 99 Test

Recently, Stephen Bronner author of Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, Utopia, took The Page 99 Test. The test, thought up by Ford Maddox Ford, posits that the 99th page of a book determines the quality of a book. Bronner...

July 31, 2012

Interview with Stanley Aronowitz

“If [Mills] were alive today, in 2012, he would be very skeptical of, if not oppositional to, people like Obama and the Democratic Party.”—Stanley Aronowitz In a recent interview with The Brooklyn Rail Stanley Aronowitz discussed his new book on...

July 31, 2012

New Book Tuesday: Revolt in Syria, Factory Towns in China, and Anna May Wong

Revolt in Syria: Eye-witness to the Uprising Stephen Starr Anna May Wong: From Laundryman’s Daughter to Hollywood Legend Graham Russell Gao Hodges Factory Towns of South China: An Illustrated Guidebook Edited by Stefan Al Nonviolence in Political Theory Iain Attack...

July 27, 2012

University Press Roundup

Our weekly roundup of the best articles from the blogs of academic publishers.

July 26, 2012

Poetry of the Taliban — "Waiting for Freedom"

We conclude our week-long feature on Poetry of the Taliban with one of the final poems in the collection, “Waiting for Freedom” (2007), by Lutfullah. (For more on Poetry of the Taliban: watch a interview with the book’s editors; browse...

July 26, 2012

Stephen Starr – Syria can find peace if its minorities seek common ground

Stephen Starr explains how the Assad Regime in Syria brought about their own downfall, and discusses problems that will trouble a new Syrian government.

July 26, 2012

VIDEO: The Editors of "Poetry of the Taliban" Discuss the Book & The Controversy Over Its Publication

Earlier this summer, Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn discussed their edited book Poetry of the Taliban on CNN. In the interview the editor of Poetry of the Taliban discussed their experience in Afghanistan and interacting with members of...

July 25, 2012

Hannah Gurman Discusses "The Dissent Papers" and Dissenting Diplomats

Earlier this month, Hannah Gurman spoke to the American Foreign Service Association about her new book The Dissent Papers: The Voices of Diplomats in the Cold War and Beyond. In The Dissent Papers, Hannah Gurman explores the overlooked opposition of...

July 25, 2012

Poetry of the Taliban — "How long?"

The works in Poetry of the Taliban give voice to the Afghans’ view of their country in the wake of the U.S. occupation and the U.S.-backed Karzai government. In this 2007 poem M.A. expresses frustration with Afghanistan’s current state and...

July 24, 2012

Stephen Starr on the complicated situation in Syria

Stephen Starr explains how the public understanding of the conflict in Syria is incredibly (and harmfully) simplistic.

July 24, 2012

Faisal Devji and Alex Strick van Linschoten on Poetry of the Taliban

In the past few days Alex Strick van Linschoten, the co-editor of Poetry of the Taliban was interviewed in the Christian Science Monitor, and Faisal Devji, who wrote the book’s preface, spoke with NPR (you can listen to his interview...