The New Inquiry is a space for discussion that aspires to enrich cultural and public life by putting all available resources—both digital and material—toward the promotion and exploration of ideas.
mkarmstr: [Thomas LeClair] Have you spent a good part of your writing life getting even? [William Gass] Yes… yes. Getting even is one great reason for writing.…
German War (1914-15), Oil on Canvas, 171.5 x 156 cm Exhibition: Permanent Collection and Pavel Filonov: Seer of the Invisible Institution: Russian Museum (Russky Muzei), St.…
Michaël Borremans (pronounced Bohr-MAHNS, as I was corrected haughtily in Holland) although rarely known, is one of my absolute favorite artists. He cunningly deals with…
A Message from the Emperor trans. Donna Freed An Imperial Message trans. Willa and Edwin Muir The Emperor—so they say—has sent a message, directly from his death…
Oxford Classics Marion Faber translation: When we are young, we revere and revile without benefit of the art of the nuance, life’s greatest prize; and…
In our struggle for responsibility, we fight against someone who is masked. The mask of the adult is called “experience.” It is expressionless, impenetrable, and…
Bail Bloc 2.0
Our work on immigration, ICE, borders, and detention
The criminalization of humanitarian aid at the border enacts a fantasy of desolate individuation. Scott Warren’s felony trial reiterates the necessity to keep reaching out.
What would it look like to put a power structure on trial? Interweaving visual narratives of the Mexico–United States border show the uneasy relation between objects and people.
The border’s dream is for undocumented immigrants to be its most reliable missionaries. But the immigrant who crosses the border is the affirmation of a life that transcends it.