The New York Review of Books
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‘The premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.’
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January 15, 2026 Issue
Table of Contents
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Our 1/15 issue is now online, with Susan Tallman on giving art back, Marilynne Robinson on the cost of living, @jeremydenk.bsky.social on Erik Satie, @robertpbaird.com on Ross Douthat’s impotent religion, @billmckibben.bsky.social on CO2, and much more.
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https://go.nybooks.com/3YLB2Is
“Mamdani’s policies may be unevenly received, among the city’s immigrant communities as much as any other.”—Tanvi Misra https://go.nybooks.com/3KZndDf
Sanctuary City | Tanvi Misra
Come January, New York City will be led by an immigrant—and, in a series of firsts, by a Muslim Indian American from Uganda. This kind of representation
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January 10, 2026 at 3:02 AM
“Mamdani’s policies may be unevenly received, among the city’s immigrant communities as much as any other.”—Tanvi Misra https://go.nybooks.com/3KZndDf
“Politics and government must supply the agents and the actions, the expectations and criteria for the excellence that Mamdani promises.”—Corey Robin https://go.nybooks.com/4qzX9xg
Democratic Excellence | Corey Robin
Zohran Mamdani has introduced several changes to American politics—joining ideological maximalism to policy minimalism, crafting a winning political
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January 10, 2026 at 2:41 AM
“Politics and government must supply the agents and the actions, the expectations and criteria for the excellence that Mamdani promises.”—Corey Robin https://go.nybooks.com/4qzX9xg
“I know you’ve been promised a history of everything before, only to read an account of rice, or salt, or gunpowder, or cod…. But carbon dioxide is the real deal.” —Bill McKibben (@billmckibben.bsky.social) https://go.nybooks.com/3MWDwkO
It’s a Gas | Bill McKibben
I’m writing this in the last days of the northern hemisphere’s autumn in 2025. Over recent weeks we’ve seen a hurricane hit Jamaica with wind speeds a few
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January 9, 2026 at 11:58 PM
“I know you’ve been promised a history of everything before, only to read an account of rice, or salt, or gunpowder, or cod…. But carbon dioxide is the real deal.” —Bill McKibben (@billmckibben.bsky.social) https://go.nybooks.com/3MWDwkO
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
There have been five great mass extinctions on Earth: four have been the result of carbon dioxide flooding into the atmosphere
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
"ten times faster even than the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction"
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"ten times faster even than the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction"
It’s a Gas | Bill McKibben
I’m writing this in the last days of the northern hemisphere’s autumn in 2025. Over recent weeks we’ve seen a hurricane hit Jamaica with wind speeds a few
www.nybooks.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:24 PM
There have been five great mass extinctions on Earth: four have been the result of carbon dioxide flooding into the atmosphere
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
"ten times faster even than the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction"
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
"ten times faster even than the mindless, undirected Siberian volcanoes that brought about the worst mass extinction"
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
it’s happened even in high tech industrial policy, the pentagon, places usually more sheltered from looting www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
January 8, 2026 at 11:12 PM
it’s happened even in high tech industrial policy, the pentagon, places usually more sheltered from looting www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
“New York could become the proving ground for a changed America—if Mamdani can keep showing the canniness and political instincts to push his agenda through.” —Michael Greenberg
Wielding the Ice Pick | Michael Greenberg
There is a steeliness to Zohran Mamdani that wasn’t obvious when he first appeared as a candidate for mayor, ablaze with ideas while extending a panoramic
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January 9, 2026 at 2:21 PM
“New York could become the proving ground for a changed America—if Mamdani can keep showing the canniness and political instincts to push his agenda through.” —Michael Greenberg
“Without Gaza there could never be any viable form of Palestinian sovereignty.” —an interview with Sara Roy
Policies of Denial | Sara Roy, Max Nelson
On November 14 the Guardian reported, on the basis of internal military documents, that the United States was “planning for the long-term division of
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January 9, 2026 at 11:14 AM
“Without Gaza there could never be any viable form of Palestinian sovereignty.” —an interview with Sara Roy
In Uganda, “missing records” from Idi Amin’s regime “must have been carefully removed, not by Amin or his brutal henchmen but by ordinary people employed by the regime as photographers, report writers, and clerks.” —Helen Epstein
Uganda’s Two Tyrants | Helen Epstein
Idi Amin and Yoweri Museveni both confronted, in different brutal ways, the challenges of governing a postcolonial nation.
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January 9, 2026 at 9:09 AM
In Uganda, “missing records” from Idi Amin’s regime “must have been carefully removed, not by Amin or his brutal henchmen but by ordinary people employed by the regime as photographers, report writers, and clerks.” —Helen Epstein
In “Bamfordtown…. The Comedian herself may sometimes have an off night thanks to her meds. But you would never consider moving. In any other town, people might tell you to cheer up when you’re having a shitty day.” —Andrew Katzenstein https://go.nybooks.com/49pFD8f
Bamfordtown | Andrew Katzenstein
Maria Bamford’s wild and constantly inventive stand-up style relies on her never flinching from the most difficult realities.
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January 9, 2026 at 4:03 AM
In “Bamfordtown…. The Comedian herself may sometimes have an off night thanks to her meds. But you would never consider moving. In any other town, people might tell you to cheer up when you’re having a shitty day.” —Andrew Katzenstein https://go.nybooks.com/49pFD8f
“I had never spoken with most of my fellow residents, but suddenly we were all we had. I felt an urge to know who they were.” —Ism’ail Kushkush
https://go.nybooks.com/3YoJBJb
https://go.nybooks.com/3YoJBJb
Leaving Khartoum | Isma’il Kushkush
On the afternoon of Friday, April 14, 2023, as the last days of Ramadan drew to an end, I went to have iftar with my extended family in Omdurman, across
www.nybooks.com
January 9, 2026 at 3:07 AM
“I had never spoken with most of my fellow residents, but suddenly we were all we had. I felt an urge to know who they were.” —Ism’ail Kushkush
https://go.nybooks.com/3YoJBJb
https://go.nybooks.com/3YoJBJb
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
January 8, 2026 at 12:17 AM
Anne Enright on Zohran Mamdani’s digital campaign
The Scrolling Eye | Anne Enright
In early October Sinn Féin, one of the parties supporting Catherine Connolly’s bid for the presidency of Ireland, posted a clip of her playing ball in the
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January 8, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Anne Enright on Zohran Mamdani’s digital campaign
“The line reduced complex equations…into an elemental divide between slavery and freedom, confounding Latrobe’s hope that Mason and Dixon’s true achievement…might still hold the nation together.” —Nicholas Guyatt
The Most Rancorous Line | Nicholas Guyatt
How did the Mason–Dixon Line—meant to resolve a longstanding colonial border dispute—come to represent the US’s foundational divide between slavery and freedom?
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January 8, 2026 at 4:28 PM
“The line reduced complex equations…into an elemental divide between slavery and freedom, confounding Latrobe’s hope that Mason and Dixon’s true achievement…might still hold the nation together.” —Nicholas Guyatt
“If what [Trump] is doing to Maduro is lawful, it would be just as lawful for another nation to capture Trump and put him on trial in their own courts.” —@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Trump’s War | David Cole
“It was a brilliant operation, actually.” So claimed Donald Trump early this morning in a phone call with The New York Times about the US military’s
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January 8, 2026 at 3:02 PM
“If what [Trump] is doing to Maduro is lawful, it would be just as lawful for another nation to capture Trump and put him on trial in their own courts.” —@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social
Mamdani has promised to deliver “comprehensive planning,” “an alluring and longstanding—if Rorschachian—goal in New York City politics,” Samuel Stein writes.
Mamdanism Without Guarantees | Samuel Stein
In an age when all of planning discourse has been reduced to a choice between YIMBY (“yes in my backyard”) and NIMBY (“not in my backyard”), Zohran
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January 8, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Mamdani has promised to deliver “comprehensive planning,” “an alluring and longstanding—if Rorschachian—goal in New York City politics,” Samuel Stein writes.
“Having infrequently if ever been asked what they want, [immigrants] are now primed to push the city’s political machinery...toward governance that acknowledges their needs.”—Tanvi Misra
Sanctuary City | Tanvi Misra
Come January, New York City will be led by an immigrant—and, in a series of firsts, by a Muslim Indian American from Uganda. This kind of representation
www.nybooks.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:53 AM
“Having infrequently if ever been asked what they want, [immigrants] are now primed to push the city’s political machinery...toward governance that acknowledges their needs.”—Tanvi Misra
“On balance, the engaged and engaging Mamdani does share with La Guardia that special, almost incandescent quality which brings hope to a city mired in disillusion, ineptitude, and despair.”—Brenda Wineapple
‘Imagination for the Other Fellow’ | Brenda Wineapple
In his victory speech, Zohran Mamdani vowed to put forward “the most ambitious agenda” New York City had seen since the administration of Fiorello La
www.nybooks.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:33 AM
“On balance, the engaged and engaging Mamdani does share with La Guardia that special, almost incandescent quality which brings hope to a city mired in disillusion, ineptitude, and despair.”—Brenda Wineapple
Underneath Maria Bamford’s “defiant oddness lies a classic American striver…. When she mocks confident, put-together types, she may really be making fun of herself.” —Andrew Katzenstein
Bamfordtown | Andrew Katzenstein
Maria Bamford’s wild and constantly inventive stand-up style relies on her never flinching from the most difficult realities.
www.nybooks.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Underneath Maria Bamford’s “defiant oddness lies a classic American striver…. When she mocks confident, put-together types, she may really be making fun of herself.” —Andrew Katzenstein
Mamdani’s “program will be called socialist, but it will certainly deliver workers to their jobs less worried and distracted and discontent…. This should be acceptable enough to the capitalists among us.” —Marilynne Robinson https://go.nybooks.com/4jklaGx
At What Cost? | Marilynne Robinson
New York’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to absorb individual costs into the collective life of the city, but whether that will be enough is an open question.
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January 8, 2026 at 4:39 AM
Mamdani’s “program will be called socialist, but it will certainly deliver workers to their jobs less worried and distracted and discontent…. This should be acceptable enough to the capitalists among us.” —Marilynne Robinson https://go.nybooks.com/4jklaGx
“I was delighted to learn of my [bloodletting] treatment. Short of dating a vampire, what could be better, I thought, than to experience the eighteenth century in the setting of a modern, hygienic clinic?” —Clair Wills https://go.nybooks.com/3YTz5d2
Blood Work | Clair Wills
A rare genetic mutation is best treated the nineteenth-century way, with bloodletting, showing up the strengths and weaknesses of the NHS.
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January 8, 2026 at 2:35 AM
“I was delighted to learn of my [bloodletting] treatment. Short of dating a vampire, what could be better, I thought, than to experience the eighteenth century in the setting of a modern, hygienic clinic?” —Clair Wills https://go.nybooks.com/3YTz5d2
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
You probably don't have a lot of bandwidth for recreational reading about a divided America, but just on the off chance I have a piece on the Mason-Dixon Line in the latest edition of the New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Most Rancorous Line | Nicholas Guyatt
How did the Mason–Dixon Line—meant to resolve a longstanding colonial border dispute—come to represent the US’s foundational divide between slavery and freedom?
www.nybooks.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:38 PM
You probably don't have a lot of bandwidth for recreational reading about a divided America, but just on the off chance I have a piece on the Mason-Dixon Line in the latest edition of the New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
"I heard loud gunshots that echoed throughout the covered walkway downstairs. A dog’s long high-pitched howl followed, then descended into rapid choppy cries that seemed to last forever until they stopped.Even the RSF soldier’s comrades scolded him. “Why?” one asked"
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Leaving Khartoum | Isma’il Kushkush
On the afternoon of Friday, April 14, 2023, as the last days of Ramadan drew to an end, I went to have iftar with my extended family in Omdurman, across
www.nybooks.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:54 PM
"I heard loud gunshots that echoed throughout the covered walkway downstairs. A dog’s long high-pitched howl followed, then descended into rapid choppy cries that seemed to last forever until they stopped.Even the RSF soldier’s comrades scolded him. “Why?” one asked"
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
"A New World offers a different kind of novel to a different world: local, cosmopolitan, quizzical, inhabited, seen, and felt."
Edwin Frank on Amit Chaudhuri's 4th novel, back in print alongside The Immortals and a collection of Chaudhuri's essays, Incompleteness: 1999-2023. @nybooks.com
Edwin Frank on Amit Chaudhuri's 4th novel, back in print alongside The Immortals and a collection of Chaudhuri's essays, Incompleteness: 1999-2023. @nybooks.com
Our Moments | Edwin Frank
The situation in which we find ourselves at the beginning of Amit Chaudhuri’s A New World is familiar, from life and in fiction: He had come back in
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January 6, 2026 at 7:12 PM
"A New World offers a different kind of novel to a different world: local, cosmopolitan, quizzical, inhabited, seen, and felt."
Edwin Frank on Amit Chaudhuri's 4th novel, back in print alongside The Immortals and a collection of Chaudhuri's essays, Incompleteness: 1999-2023. @nybooks.com
Edwin Frank on Amit Chaudhuri's 4th novel, back in print alongside The Immortals and a collection of Chaudhuri's essays, Incompleteness: 1999-2023. @nybooks.com
Reposted by The New York Review of Books
American planning is so tethered to zoning in large part because it is the last option available. Sure, it might be better for cities to build mass social housing, but with the resources they have, an upzoning will do. — Samuel Stein in @nybooks.com
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reshaping the City | Samuel Stein
What does zoning reform have the power to change?
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January 6, 2026 at 9:59 PM
American planning is so tethered to zoning in large part because it is the last option available. Sure, it might be better for cities to build mass social housing, but with the resources they have, an upzoning will do. — Samuel Stein in @nybooks.com
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...