Month: June 2019

Joe Biden Bets on Being the Anti-Trump Candidate

There’s been some reporting that Donald Trump has privately expressed worries about facing Joe Biden in a general election. But, publicly, the two men seem to enjoy jawing at each other like a pair of prizefighters. “Look, folks,” Biden told a crowd in Davenport, Iowa, on Tuesday night, gripping his podium with both hands. “He…

By JohnValbyNation June 13, 2019 0

“The Devil Never Sleeps,” Reviewed: A Mexican-American Documentary Filmmaker’s Rare Classic About the Mysteries of a Death in the Family

A rare classic of documentary filmmaking is screening at Anthology Film Archives this Saturday: Lourdes Portillo’s “The Devil Never Sleeps,” from 1994. The film, which is being shown as part of Anthology’s Home Movies: Filmmakers Document Their Families series, is centered on Portillo’s own narration of a family tragedy: the sudden and mysterious death of…

By JohnValbyNation June 13, 2019 0

The Prescient Anger of Arundhati Roy

Nine months can make a person, or remake her. In October, 1997, Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for her first novel, “The God of Small Things.” India had just turned fifty, and the country needed symbols to celebrate itself. Roy became one of them. Then, in July of 1998, she published an essay about…

By JohnValbyNation June 13, 2019 0

Andrea Lee Reads “The Children”

Listen with: iTunes WNYC Stitcher TuneIn Andrea Lee reads her story from the June 10 & 17, 2019, issue of the magazine. Lee is the author of four books, including the novel “Lost Hearts in Italy” and the story collection “Interesting Women.” A new story collection, “Red Island House,” will be published in 2021. Click…

By JohnValbyNation June 12, 2019 0

The Arrest of a Russian Investigative Journalist Prompts Outrage and Solidarity

Moscow law enforcement recently spent fifty-six hours torturing a man. Almost immediately, Moscow reporters mobilized to obtain and disseminate information about his arrest and detention, and, once they did, their audiences were able to observe the situation almost in real time. Journalists from the very few remaining independent Russian-language media outlets, and also those from…

By JohnValbyNation June 11, 2019 0