The Ardor of Secession
We come, then, to the secret meaning of the secessionist petitions: They evince not a rejection of, but a desperation for, an intimate union with the state.
Follow The Leader
How does a religion centered on holy materiality adapt to the virtual?
Wrong Ways to Eat
Despite the history of socially sanctioned feasts and fasts, we're quick to pathologize women who eat inconsistently. Why do women need a good reason to devour?
Party TV
China Central Television is the most important television network you’ve never heard of, but not for long...
Baby Daddies and Dandy Scandals
Aristocratic gossip has always been at odds with the absolute discretion expected of the ruling class
The Flies That Bind
On at least the third death of Salvagepunk, and with it we notice that we’re not alone
Hi Haters!
The metaphor of microfame and the structure of feeling of social-media use
Growing Up TV
The last role of a child star is always collapse
The Laughing Indian
Sherman Alexie trades the stoic Indian stereotype for another, but do his jokes tickle or unsettle?
The Streets of Spain
A report from Madrid's 14 November general strike
Looking Through You
Transparency as aesthetic feature, transparency as disposition, transparency as force
Speak/Now
Two developments of the past few years call for the re-opening this discussion of the relationship between feminist politics and the referentiality of language: the feminist blogosphere and the lyrics of Taylor Swift.
The Anti-Family
MTV’s Teen Mom presents teen motherhood not as a threat to the normal structures of everyday life, but as our new social reality. What it doesn’t get to is that this is a good thing
Theory Porn
A review of Tamara Faith Berger's complex erotic novel Maidenhead.
The Semiautobiographers
A phalanx of recent books by women are refusing old-fashioned plot structures and paying special attention to the unruly sexual lives of their characters. Is this the way to liberation?
Ghost World (Like a Bad Dream)
On love, ghosts, and Lawrence Kasdan's 1988 film The Accidental Tourist