Laura Marsh

Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights Is Fan Fiction The new movie smooths out the novel’s difficulties and plays fast and loose with its romantic elements.

Give your lady what she *really* wants this Valentine’s Day — to read, like, and repost her WUTHERING HEIGHTS review for @newrepublic 💕

newrepublic.com/article/2063...

You don't think a book review can be must-read for people just trying to make political change? This one is. @daschloz.bsky.social spells out the vexed underlying dilemma of democratic (& Democratic) politics in a world where increasingly "the choirs & brass bands reach only into the educated base."

The Left Has a Hyperpolitics Problem While the left is often able to excite large numbers to protest, it fails to harness that energy to build lasting political power.

I reviewed Anton Jäger’s new book, Hyperpolitics, which I enjoyed. Lots to chew on in a small yellow volume. newrepublic.com/article/2058...

The Unexpected Charm of Is This Thing On? In A Star Is Born and Maestro, art tore through relationships. In Bradley Cooper’s new movie, it offers reconciliation.

Always love writing for @newrepublic / here’s my latest! 🎞️

newrepublic.com/article/2048...

What the American Revolution Owes the Rest of the World Historian Richard Bell’s new book traces global upheaval stretching from Philadelphia and London to Freetown and Madras.

Thrilled to be back in @newrepublic.com with a review of Richard Bell's The American Revolution and the Fate of the World. Thanks as always to @lauramarsh.bsky.social for the superlative editing!

newrepublic.com/article/2027...

yeah it's a really nice Christmas gift to wake up to a DM on mychart letting you know you're not going to be allowed medicine any more

A woman just days away from giving birth - someone who had active insurance! - was suddenly told she only had a three day window and would only be covered for a vaginal delivery

Hospital vs. Insurer Dispute Could Force Thousands to Switch Doctors (Published 2024)

We have been here before when Mount Sinai sought a 58% rate hike. www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/n...

They're seeking a 50% rate hike. And because Anthem hasn't agreed, patients like me are going to be cut off from essential treatment with no instructions at all on how to get care after December 31.
This includes cancer patients, pregnant patients who won't know if they are covered to give birth...

Mount Sinai is once again playing chicken with its patients' lives and health

The Self-Delusions of Olivia Nuzzi’s American Canto Her memoir frequently shows an indifference toward truth, falsity, and meaning. In that way, it’s an artifact of our age.

I reviewed American Canto… newrepublic.com/article/2041...

Well it’s not long sentence, but I did get to write this essay for @newrepublic.com! I strongly encourage you to join us.

newrepublic.com/article/2015...

The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.

Nobody else is writing about this, so please re-post my two-part series about the imminent sale of what one expert calls “the Sistine Chapel of New Deal art.” Preservationists need to move fast.

Part one:

newrepublic.com/article/2010...

Part two:

newrepublic.com/article/2010...

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education Digital educational platforms have become ubiquitous in American classrooms, with tools like Google Workspace for Education, Kahoot!, Zearn, Khan Academy, and many others now structuring curriculum, i...

Say it often, say it loud:

"Overall, research has not supported the common-sense presumption that digital approaches to schooling are better than non-digital alternatives. At the broadest level, widespread computer use in education has been found to be associated with lower student achievement."

I was in the midst of writing a nice, fluffy rave about s2 of PLATONIC for my Sept column when I decided I really wanted to write this instead — so, thanks to @lauramarsh.bsky.social for enabling a last-minute pivot.

Quick thread of the great journos and critics upon which this essay is built 1/x

This is a scheme to pipeline people into using for-profit AI tech through exposure in the public education system. Even if you wanted guidelines for AI already in use, why would you develop them in collaboration with AI companies that want people to use their products as often as possible?

Is Agnes Callard Making You Uncomfortable? In the philosopher’s world, provocation and controversy are inseparable from the examined life.

Kipnis on Agnes Callard:
newrepublic.com/article/1907...

Are Cell Phones Really Destroying Kids’ Mental Health? Jonathan Haidt once heralded an “ultrasocial” world. Now he’s one of social media’s most prominent critics.

I wrote about all the ways Jonathan Haidt gets it wrong and how early Haidt would not have been happy with later Haidt.

newrepublic.com/article/1903...

The Inimitable Weirdness of David Lynch The filmmaker, who died this week, mixed the menacing with the everyday, the banal with the surreal and sublime.

remembering David Lynch, for @newrepublic.com. newrepublic.com/article/1903...

“3 Body Problem”’s Failure of Imagination The new Netflix show faithfully adapts Liu Cixin’s bestselling novels but lacks imagination.

I feel really lucky that I have an editor (hi @lauramarsh.bsky.social) who has supported me writing a handful of essays about TV form this year. I'm proud of this one about 3 BODY PROBLEM and the sorry state of visual style on streaming television. newrepublic.com/article/1781...

my guess would be An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal (fwiw one of the most illuminating books I have read on health care...)

This is a small show, but it’s filled with big moments like these. This scene in particular is a mirror image of Sam’s first performance at Choir Practice, when Joel first held her up (“I’ll sing the Kate Bush part”). The hesitance, the rising confidence, the power of a friend’s presence. Few shows have defiantly tried to make such glorious, visionary television from such common tools. What would it be like if people loved you? How would that feel? What is it like to not be alone anymore? Somebody, sing us that song.

SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, one of the best shows on TV, ended last night with one last big number. This is what I wrote about it a few weeks ago. They left it all on the floor. newrepublic.com/article/1875...

thank you for coming!

Cormac McCarthy’s Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century: “I Loved Him. He Was My Safety.” When he was 42, Cormac McCarthy fell in love with a 16-year-old girl he met by a motel pool. Augusta Britt would go on to become one of the most significant—and secret—inspirations in literary history...

why is this written like this lol www.vanityfair.com/style/story/...

Ta-Nehisi Coates Corrects the Record A trip to Israel and Palestine in 2023 made Coates rethink one of his most famous essays.

My review of Ta-Nehisi’s latest is finally up! Lots of context here you won’t get elsewhere.

newrepublic.com/article/1861...

Thank you!

Oh trust me I am on the case, thank you!

omg how have I not read this book??

thank you!

I can't wait til more people have read it and are ready to talk!