In Dawoud Bey’s Photography, the Past Isn’t Past
“It begins with the subject,” Dawoud Bey has said of his photography. “A deep interest in wanting to describe the Black subject in a way that’s as complex as the experiences of anyone else. It’s meant to kind of reshape the world one person at a time.” It is an audacious mission, but Bey’s work—now…
Books Have the Power to Rehabilitate. But Prisons Are Blocking Access to Them.
Behind the walls of California State Prison, Sacramento, six inmates gather in the library for their weekly short-story club. The librarian introduces the day’s pick, Doris Lessing’s A Sunrise on the Veld, and the men take turns reading it aloud. Some of them lean forward in their chairs as they listen; one traces the words…
On The Road with Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors have built a sizable following over nearly 15 years of making songs that explore themes of love, kinship, and perseverance shaded with just enough wit and honesty to ground it in reality. They recently wrapped up their tour for Dragons, Holcomb’s ninth studio album that came out earlier this year.…
On the Road at AmericanaFest
Last month, Nashville hosted AmericanaFest, now in its 20th year and bigger than ever, featuring more than 300 artists performing over the course of six days. Thanks in part to the advocacy and determination of the Americana Music Association, the nexus of genres and tradition-informed music under the umbrella of ‘Americana’ has grown into a…
Blood on the Sidewalk: A Look at the Political Clashes of the Trump Era
This article was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. For the last two years, photojournalist Rian Dundon has documented the escalating protests by Trump supporters and right-wing extremists like the Proud Boys in addition to their antifa counterparts on the left. Each of Dundon’s images examines what the media theorist Daniel Boorstin in the…
Photos: Inside the Raucous, Colorful Protest that Shut Down “Wall Street West”
Leidesdorff Street, a shadowy corridor stretching just three blocks, is hardly the hub of San Francisco’s downtown Financial District. Yet for a few hours on Wednesday morning, a lively climate change protest swept through the alley, turning it into the front line in the fight for divestment—a movement to force big banks and financial institutions…