Boston Review
@bostonreview.bsky.social
A magazine of ideas, politics, and culture, committed to the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.
Independent & nonprofit since 1975.
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Independent & nonprofit since 1975.
Newsletter:
bostonreview.net/newsletter
Subscribe:
bostonreview.net/memberships
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Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
Through the disasters of this year, our writers delivered fearless analysis and creative resilience—refusing to compromise on fundamental values of justice and humanity in the face of brazen cruelty and democratic decline.
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Reposted by Boston Review
Aaron Labaree on the #cinema of #MarcelOphuls
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
#film #filmCriticism #cinéastes
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
#film #filmCriticism #cinéastes
December 15, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Aaron Labaree on the #cinema of #MarcelOphuls
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
#film #filmCriticism #cinéastes
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
#film #filmCriticism #cinéastes
Reposted by Boston Review
Is it political violence when students get killed after JD Vance and Trump call universities the enemy of the people? Or is that just "tragedy" while only the murder of far-right advocates of violence like Charlie Kirk qualifies for political recognition?
www.bostonreview.net/articles/wha...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/wha...
What Is Political Violence? - Boston Review
Pundits and politicians conceal the truth: it’s all around us, perpetrated by our political system itself.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Is it political violence when students get killed after JD Vance and Trump call universities the enemy of the people? Or is that just "tragedy" while only the murder of far-right advocates of violence like Charlie Kirk qualifies for political recognition?
www.bostonreview.net/articles/wha...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/wha...
“I don’t like neutrality,” the late documentarian Marcel Ophuls wrote. “You can vote Green, Red, Pink, or Black. But never White. It’s in the life of nations, like in the life of people, sooner or later. You always have to take sides for someone or something.”
Aaron Labaree revisits his work:
Aaron Labaree revisits his work:
A Good Neighbor - Boston Review
The late Marcel Ophuls made films about the twentieth century’s great crimes—and the trail of guilt they left behind.
www.bostonreview.net
December 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
“I don’t like neutrality,” the late documentarian Marcel Ophuls wrote. “You can vote Green, Red, Pink, or Black. But never White. It’s in the life of nations, like in the life of people, sooner or later. You always have to take sides for someone or something.”
Aaron Labaree revisits his work:
Aaron Labaree revisits his work:
Reposted by Boston Review
"such explanations obscure a more complex problem, one that has plagued the country’s liberal and left traditions for the past two centuries: that, simply put, it is easier to imagine the end of apartheid than it is to imagine the end of settler colonialism." - Panashe Chigumadzi
The Land Question - Boston Review
Fighting apartheid has become a global paradigm for justice struggles. That’s not how many Black liberationists in South Africa understood their cause.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 8:23 PM
"such explanations obscure a more complex problem, one that has plagued the country’s liberal and left traditions for the past two centuries: that, simply put, it is easier to imagine the end of apartheid than it is to imagine the end of settler colonialism." - Panashe Chigumadzi
Reposted by Boston Review
Enjoyed this thoughtful review by Lorna Finlayson
Intelligence, Dworkin reminds us in RIGHT-WING WOMEN, has a politics.
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Enjoyed this thoughtful review by Lorna Finlayson
Reposted by Boston Review
Intelligence, Dworkin reminds us in RIGHT-WING WOMEN, has a politics.
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Intelligence, Dworkin reminds us in RIGHT-WING WOMEN, has a politics.
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
Through the disasters of this year, our writers delivered fearless analysis and creative resilience—refusing to compromise on fundamental values of justice and humanity in the face of brazen cruelty and democratic decline.
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Through the disasters of this year, our writers delivered fearless analysis and creative resilience—refusing to compromise on fundamental values of justice and humanity in the face of brazen cruelty and democratic decline.
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Revisit the writing readers turned to the most:
Reposted by Boston Review
2025 was the year I discovered @bostonreview.bsky.social. Some real bangers one this list.
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
2025 was the year I discovered @bostonreview.bsky.social. Some real bangers one this list.
Reposted by Boston Review
"Antisemitism hysteria is the new Red Scare." Joan Wallach Scott
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review
The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"Antisemitism hysteria is the new Red Scare." Joan Wallach Scott
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
Reposted by Boston Review
A DEMOCRATIC argument for close reading. I loved every word and it was a balm today to me to focus on the detail.
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A DEMOCRATIC argument for close reading. I loved every word and it was a balm today to me to focus on the detail.
Reposted by Boston Review
just getting around to reading this and one of the things i really loved in this piece is the idea that requiring students to engage in close reading requires them to take themselves seriously and believe that they have the capacity to make a claim and build an argument....
I'm honored to share that just in the past two weeks since it came out, my essay "The Claims of Close Reading" became the fourth-most read piece of the year at
@bostonreview.bsky.social
Thank you for reading it. This is truly amazing company to find myself in.
@bostonreview.bsky.social
Thank you for reading it. This is truly amazing company to find myself in.
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
just getting around to reading this and one of the things i really loved in this piece is the idea that requiring students to engage in close reading requires them to take themselves seriously and believe that they have the capacity to make a claim and build an argument....
Reposted by Boston Review
“Their words contain an urgent lesson: whoever we are & whatever we do for a living, as democratic citizens we must always speak truth to others as we see it & refuse to be silent in the face of inhumanity & injustice.”
www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...
www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...
On the Responsibility of Citizens - Boston Review
Ordinary resistance and ordinary responsibility falls on all of us, whatever our jobs, positions, or roles in society.
www.bostonreview.net
December 13, 2025 at 6:50 PM
“Their words contain an urgent lesson: whoever we are & whatever we do for a living, as democratic citizens we must always speak truth to others as we see it & refuse to be silent in the face of inhumanity & injustice.”
www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...
www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-re...
Reposted by Boston Review
Absolutely fantastic.
One of the best things I've read all year along.
A critique of 'apartheid' frameworks, and the necessity to address the Settler-Colonialism that still remains unquestioned and well-protected, as most loudly seen with Israel now:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
One of the best things I've read all year along.
A critique of 'apartheid' frameworks, and the necessity to address the Settler-Colonialism that still remains unquestioned and well-protected, as most loudly seen with Israel now:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Land Question - Boston Review
Fighting apartheid has become a global paradigm for justice struggles. That’s not how many Black liberationists in South Africa understood their cause.
www.bostonreview.net
December 13, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Absolutely fantastic.
One of the best things I've read all year along.
A critique of 'apartheid' frameworks, and the necessity to address the Settler-Colonialism that still remains unquestioned and well-protected, as most loudly seen with Israel now:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
One of the best things I've read all year along.
A critique of 'apartheid' frameworks, and the necessity to address the Settler-Colonialism that still remains unquestioned and well-protected, as most loudly seen with Israel now:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Intelligence, Dworkin reminds us in RIGHT-WING WOMEN, has a politics.
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Intelligence, Dworkin reminds us in RIGHT-WING WOMEN, has a politics.
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
It matters not only what is said but who says it: “While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men is called theory, or idea, or fact.... Who is smart and who is stupid?”
Vigilantes enforcing slave laws, churches reporting residential school runaways, McCarthy-era anticommunists: for centuries, the power to police the “national interest”—and the people who stand outside of it—has been readily dispensed to willing citizens.
A Theory of the List - Boston Review
From runaway slave lists to Canary Mission, the state has long deputized citizens to enforce its will.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Vigilantes enforcing slave laws, churches reporting residential school runaways, McCarthy-era anticommunists: for centuries, the power to police the “national interest”—and the people who stand outside of it—has been readily dispensed to willing citizens.
Reposted by Boston Review
Honored to be on the list of @bostonreview.bsky.social's most-read pieces of 2025, and in such august company! www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Honored to be on the list of @bostonreview.bsky.social's most-read pieces of 2025, and in such august company! www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
There’s often truth in the claim that people are led to scapegoat immigrants due to justified disenchantment with the status quo. Plus, telling people they have a legitimate but misdirected grievance can be better strategy than insisting all is fine.
But the case must be made with care and nuance.
But the case must be made with care and nuance.
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
There’s often truth in the claim that people are led to scapegoat immigrants due to justified disenchantment with the status quo. Plus, telling people they have a legitimate but misdirected grievance can be better strategy than insisting all is fine.
But the case must be made with care and nuance.
But the case must be made with care and nuance.
Reposted by Boston Review
Also caught up in this was the recent presidential election in Honduras (regulars may recall Trump actively intervened in this election & the result remains in question). Boston Review has a good overview: www.bostonreview.net/articles/the... (14/41)
The Struggle for Honduras - Boston Review
U.S. meddling casts a dark shadow over recent elections, following four years of left-wing government under Xiomara Castro.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Also caught up in this was the recent presidential election in Honduras (regulars may recall Trump actively intervened in this election & the result remains in question). Boston Review has a good overview: www.bostonreview.net/articles/the... (14/41)
In 1877, German immigrant Ernst Kohlberg wrote home to his parents: “When you read about trouble on the border always discount the stories by half. The demand for war in Texas is caused by speculators who want to make fortunes furnishing war supplies.” He could have been writing those words today.
Profiting in Nowhereland - Boston Review
The sordid histories behind Texas's industrial-scale immigration detention center.
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
In 1877, German immigrant Ernst Kohlberg wrote home to his parents: “When you read about trouble on the border always discount the stories by half. The demand for war in Texas is caused by speculators who want to make fortunes furnishing war supplies.” He could have been writing those words today.
Reposted by Boston Review
LORNA FINLAYSON IS SO SMART! I LOVED THIS in @bostonreview.bsky.social
www.bostonreview.net/articles/tai...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/tai...
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM
LORNA FINLAYSON IS SO SMART! I LOVED THIS in @bostonreview.bsky.social
www.bostonreview.net/articles/tai...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/tai...
Refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the settler colonial state, the Africanists argued that “it is an historical fallacy to say South Africa belongs to everybody: both oppressor and oppressed, robber and robbed.”
@panashechigumadzi.bsky.social:
@panashechigumadzi.bsky.social:
The Land Question - Boston Review
Fighting apartheid has become a global paradigm for justice struggles. That’s not how many Black liberationists in South Africa understood their cause.
www.bostonreview.net
December 11, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the settler colonial state, the Africanists argued that “it is an historical fallacy to say South Africa belongs to everybody: both oppressor and oppressed, robber and robbed.”
@panashechigumadzi.bsky.social:
@panashechigumadzi.bsky.social:
Reposted by Boston Review
Happy to see my review essay on Jewish anti-Zionism make @bostonreview.bsky.social’s list of most read essays from this year. If one had to read a summary of this year - it’s agonies and ecstasies (but mostly just agonies) - this is a compelling list.
www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
Our Most-Loved Pieces of 2025 - Boston Review
Revisit the writing from this year that readers turned to the most.
www.bostonreview.net
December 11, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Happy to see my review essay on Jewish anti-Zionism make @bostonreview.bsky.social’s list of most read essays from this year. If one had to read a summary of this year - it’s agonies and ecstasies (but mostly just agonies) - this is a compelling list.
www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
www.bostonreview.net/reading-list...
After UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech in May that warned darkly about the nation becoming an “island of strangers,” a Labour representative had only the following to say: “Tough words and tough policy are required to solve tough problems.”
The Real Border Crisis - Boston Review
The problem isn't immigration. It's the failure of liberal democracy itself.
www.bostonreview.net
December 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
After UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech in May that warned darkly about the nation becoming an “island of strangers,” a Labour representative had only the following to say: “Tough words and tough policy are required to solve tough problems.”
Reposted by Boston Review
My irregular visit to BSKY for December has arrived; I'm here to insist everyone close out their existing tabs and read @johannawinant.bsky.social's latest in the @bostonreview.bsky.social: www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
December 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
My irregular visit to BSKY for December has arrived; I'm here to insist everyone close out their existing tabs and read @johannawinant.bsky.social's latest in the @bostonreview.bsky.social: www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Some call this a “backlash.” Politics is often like that: protest leads to a crackdown; gains by a minority trigger resentment. But events can also resemble a collapsing house. This seems to me the better model for understanding the political upheavals we are living through.
Lorna Finlayson:
Lorna Finlayson:
Tainted Ladies - Boston Review
Liberal feminism is collapsing. Who’s really to blame?
www.bostonreview.net
December 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Some call this a “backlash.” Politics is often like that: protest leads to a crackdown; gains by a minority trigger resentment. But events can also resemble a collapsing house. This seems to me the better model for understanding the political upheavals we are living through.
Lorna Finlayson:
Lorna Finlayson: