The New York Review of Books

A COUNTRY TORN APART

The Looting Of Congo

14 diggs The New York Review of Books World 15h

Beneath Congo’s soil lies an estimated $24 trillion in natural resources. This wealth is the source of untold suffering. Today, more Congolese are displaced from their homes than Iraqis, Yemenis, or Rohingyas. Yet their miseries are all but invisible

SCARCITY AND DELICACY

A Soviet New Year, With Mayonnaise

Without mayonnaise, there could be no New Year in the Soviet Union. But you could never just buy mayonnaise.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Tenants Under Siege: Inside New York City's Housing Crisis

10 diggs The New York Review of Books New York City Economics Race Cities Policy 8 Aug 2017

To give an example of how quickly affordable housing can vanish, between 2007 and 2014, 25 percent of the rent-stabilized apartments on the Upper West Side of Manhattan were deregulated.

A PRESUMPTION OF GUILT

How Lynching Still Shapes American Criminal Justice

16 diggs The New York Review of Books Criminal Justice Race 16 Jul 2017

At the Civil War’s end, black autonomy expanded but white supremacy remained deeply rooted.

IT'S U.S., NOT THEM

South Korea's Real Fear

7 diggs The New York Review of Books Warfare World 10 Jul 2017

As has long been true, the 10 million residents of greater Seoul are essentially human shields: any attack on Pyongyang by the US would be followed by a barrage of traditional artillery from the DMZ on the South Korean capital, and hundreds of thousands would be killed.

'STRONG AND STABLE'

Britain: The End Of A Fantasy

17 diggs The New York Review of Books England Politics 11 Jun 2017

To understand the sensational outcome of the British election, one must ask a basic question. What happens when phony populism collides with the real thing?

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

The Autocrat’s Language

14 diggs The New York Review of Books Language Donald Trump Histories Politics 16 May 2017

Trump’s word-piles fill public space with static. This is like having the air we breathe replaced with carbon monoxide. It is deadly.

OUTSOURCING EDUCATION

Should The Chinese Government Be In American Classrooms?

7 diggs The New York Review of Books Education World Politics 3 May 2017

Confucius Institutes, which teach Chinese language classes at more than 100 American universities, are an official agency of the Chinese government.

A FAILURE OF IMAGINATION

New York’s Vast Flop

20 diggs The New York Review of Books Architecture Cities 28 Feb 2017

The World Trade Center rebuilding encapsulates everything that is wrong with urban development.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Tibet's Hidden Kingdom

14 diggs The New York Review of Books World Photos 1 Mar 2017

Among the Shangri-Las scattered through the remote mountain valleys and passes of the Himalayas and the Karakoram, the most exotic may well be the once flourishing medieval kingdom of Guge.

A SECOND CHANCE TO LEARN

Scholars Behind Bars

10 diggs The New York Review of Books Education Crime 7 Feb 2017

Programs like the Bard Prison Initiative are in decline, but by any conceivable measure, the education received that the inmates they serve is vastly superior to the standard academic experience of the roughly 20 million undergraduates in the United States.

WHAT'S IN A WORD

The Power Of 'Fuck'

24 diggs The New York Review of Books Language 3 Feb 2017

The barrier-crossing function, together with other forces — boredom, machismo, the analgesic effect — helps to account for the notorious frequency of fuck.

CHANGE AND LIES

Hannah Arendt's Eerie Warning About The Origins Of Totalitarianism

31 diggs The New York Review of Books Politics 5 Feb 2017

Renowned Jewish scholar Hannah Arendt spoke to The New York Review Of Books In 1978 and gave a chilling warning about the origins of totalitarianism.

THE DRUG WAR AT THE EXTREMES

On The Night Shift In Murderous Manila

26 diggs The New York Review of Books Long Reads Crime World 25 Jan 2017

There are two chief kinds of carnage taking place here, these wet Manila nights. The “buy-bust” operations, where people seeking to buy drugs from undercover officers often end up dead. And the extrajudicial killings.

SMALL STAKES

The Trouble With Quantum Mechanics

24 diggs The New York Review of Books Science 22 Jan 2017

The development of quantum mechanics in the first decades of the twentieth century came as a shock to many physicists. Even today, despite the great successes of quantum mechanics, arguments continue about its meaning, and its future.

ON DESPAIR

The History Of Pain

9 diggs The New York Review of Books Personal Essay 14 Jan 2017

No one distilled the election's place in history more eloquently than Zadie Smith.

'WHEN THE CHINESE WERE UNSPEAKABLE'

The Nearly Forgotten Massacre In Dao County, China

5 diggs The New York Review of Books Histories 11 Jan 2017

That we know the truth about the slaughter that happened in Dao County in southern China 1967 is due to one person. His name is Tan Hecheng and in December I set off for southern China to meet him.