Public Thinker Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/series/public-thinker/ a magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship Sat, 17 Jan 2026 02:10:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.publicbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-favicon-2-300x300.png Public Thinker Archives - Public Books https://www.publicbooks.org/series/public-thinker/ 32 32 Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving https://www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-complicity-seth-rockman-on-plantations-textiles-and-the-art-of-weaving/ Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:00:23 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=61141 “But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”

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]]> “Suddenly, the New Story Was There” https://www.publicbooks.org/suddenly-the-new-story-was-there-warren-cariou-on-the-athabasca-tar-sands-petrography-and-alternative-land-relations/ Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:04:18 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=60775 “I had seen a lot of bitumen in the devastated landscapes of the bitumen mines. But seeing it here, in such a mundane and tranquil setting, surprised me. That was when I first understood that this material is natural.”

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]]> “If You Do Something Social, You Have to Do It Local”: Pedro Lasch on Art, Protest, and Migration https://www.publicbooks.org/if-you-do-something-social-you-have-to-do-it-local-pedro-lasch-on-art-protest-and-migration/ Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:00:21 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=60632 “From the very beginning, I knew I was part of a social movement for undocumented immigrants’ rights.”

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]]> “A Second Enlightenment”: Greg Grandin on Latin America, the United States, and the Creation of Social-Democratic Modernity https://www.publicbooks.org/a-second-enlightenment-greg-grandin-on-latin-america-the-united-states-and-the-creation-of-social-democratic-modernity/ Tue, 09 Sep 2025 15:00:13 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=60590 “My books try to explain a tension.”

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]]> Are Species Timeless?: Talking with Bathsheba Demuth About the Arctic https://www.publicbooks.org/are-species-timeless-talking-with-bathsheba-demuth-about-the-arctic/ Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:00:21 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=60140 “There was an interdependence that was very clear in the animal relationships in the Arctic.”

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]]> Beyond the “Burden of Belief”: Pádraig Ó Tuama on Religious Trauma, Eros, and Poetry as Prayer https://www.publicbooks.org/beyond-the-burden-of-belief-padraig-o-tuama-on-religious-trauma-eros-and-poetry-as-prayer/ Tue, 18 Mar 2025 15:00:23 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=59255 “I began to look for other verbs when it comes to my doubt and my rage and my yearning and my sadness.”

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]]> Humor and Fear, Kings and Soldiers: Jason De León on the Untold Story of Human Smugglers https://www.publicbooks.org/humor-and-fear-kings-and-soldiers-jason-de-leon-on-the-untold-story-of-human-smugglers/ Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:00:23 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=59142 What happens if we start with the assumption that smugglers are, in fact, humans?

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]]> Slavery Is Not a Metaphor: Rethinking Mass Incarceration with John Bardes https://www.publicbooks.org/slavery-is-not-a-metaphor-rethinking-mass-incarceration-with-john-bardes/ Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:00:48 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58934 In the aftermath of the American Revolution, slaveholders in the South were thinking about what a prison should look like for a society that was economically and socially dependent on slavery.

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]]> “The Diva Always Has a Transcendent Virtuosity”: Deborah Paredez on Divas, Tías, and Celebrity https://www.publicbooks.org/the-diva-always-has-a-transcendent-virtuosity-deborah-paredez-on-divas-tias-and-celebrity/ Thu, 06 Feb 2025 16:00:21 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58905 “The diva is so often seen as remote and unattainable and onstage; I wanted to see how divas allow for a connection.”

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]]> “The World Didn’t Give It, but the World Can’t Take It Away”: Talking Black Joy and Black Freedom with Blair LM Kelley https://www.publicbooks.org/the-world-didnt-give-it-but-the-world-cant-take-it-away-talking-black-joy-and-black-freedom-with-blair-lm-kelley/ Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:00:50 +0000 https://www.publicbooks.org/?p=58522 “Joy is a uniquely interesting Black experience. We talk about joy a lot, we sing about joy.”

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