Scrutinizing culture.

If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.

• The Evil of Banality Troubling new revelations about Arendt and Heidegger.
  Ron Rosenbaum Oct. 30, 2009
  
• Worst Framing Device Ever How the misbegotten phrase public option has undermined health care reform.
  Ron Rosenbaum Oct. 13, 2009
  
• The Nabokov Code A first encounter with Laura, his last, unfinished work.
  Ron Rosenbaum Sept. 24, 2009
  
• Who Are You Calling Genius? It's time to retire the term.
  Ron Rosenbaum Sept. 9, 2009
  
• Will the Pentagon Thwart Obama's Dream of Zero? How serious is the president about nuclear disarmament?
  Ron Rosenbaum Aug. 21, 2009
  
• An Open Letter to Jon Stewart Bring back Leibowitz!
  Ron Rosenbaum July 24, 2009
  
• The Best Way To Speak Shakespeare It will make you catch your breath.
  Ron Rosenbaum June 17, 2009
  
• Save the Salinger Archives! Even if we have to save them from Salinger himself.
  Ron Rosenbaum June 5, 2009
  
• 2012: Tsunami of Stupidity Why the latest apocalyptic cult is a silly scam.
  Ron Rosenbaum May 22, 2009
  
• The New Nuke Porn Our nuclear fantasies have gotten more hard-core.
  Ron Rosenbaum May 8, 2009
  
• Should We Care What Shakespeare Did in Bed? The controversy over a sexy new portrait.
  Ron Rosenbaum April 2, 2009
  
• Choctaw Bingo A modest proposal for a new national anthem.
  Ron Rosenbaum March 13, 2009
  
• Not the Usual Suspects Three detective novels that restore pleasure to reading.
  Ron Rosenbaum March 2, 2009
  
• Don't Give an Oscar to The Reader We don't need another "redemptive" Holocaust movie.
  Ron Rosenbaum Feb. 9, 2009
  
• The Worst Pop Singer Ever Why, exactly, is Billy Joel so bad?
  Ron Rosenbaum Jan. 24, 2009
  
• The Letter of Last Resort The decision about nuclear apocalypse lying in a safe at the bottom of the sea.
  Ron Rosenbaum Jan. 9, 2009