Liberties Journal of Culture and Politics: Spring 2023

Liberties, a Journal of Culture and Politics, is essential reading for those engaged in the cultural and political issues of our time. 

In this edition of Liberties: 

• Andrew Delbanco - On Reparations; 
• James Kirchik - From Queer to Gay to Queer; 
• Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò - The African Case for Enlightenment; 
• James P. Leffler - Iraq After Twenty Years; 
• Tamar Jacoby - The Battle of Irpin; 
• Michael Walzer - The Left and The Nation State; 
• Alfred Brendel - Goethe and Beethoven: Two Giants; 
• Alastair Macaulay - On The World’s Greatest Living Choreographer;
• Jennie Lightweiss-Goff - Vulnerability in America; 
• Mark Lilla - The Use and Abuse of Nostalgia; 
• Mitchell Abidor - Introducing an Unknown Master; 
• John Psarapolous - How Dictators Use Refugees; 
• Celeste Marcus - Good Painting; 
• Leon Wieseltier - The Troubles of the Jews; 
• and, with new poems by Ishion Hutchinson and Declan Ryan.

Liberties features serious, independent, stylish, and controversial essays by significant writers and introduces the next generation of writers and poets to inspire and impact the intellectual and creative lifeblood of today’s culture and politics. Nobel Prize winners, leading op-ed writers, well-known non-fiction writers, rising talents, and poets from around the world are part of the Liberties series.

There’s a reason why engaged citizens, cultural warriors, political leaders, opinion makers, and activists from across the cultural and political spectrum read and cherish Liberties.

Andrew Delbanco is the Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies at Columbia University and the president of the Teagle Foundation. A version of this essay was delivered as the Jefferson Lecture in Washington, DC.

James Kirchick is the author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington.

Michael Walzer is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He is the author most recently of The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective.

Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò is Professor of African Political Thought at Cornell University and the author, among other books, of Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously.

Declan Ryan’s collection of poems Crisis Actor will be published this summer.

Tamar Jacoby is the director of the New Ukraine Project at the Progressive Policy Institute and author of Displaced: The Ukrainian Refugee Experience.

Alfred Brendel, the pianist, is the author most recently of The Lady from Arezzo: My Musical Life and Other Matters.

Melvyn P. Leffler is the Edward Stettinius Emeritus Professor of American History at The University of Virginia and the author of Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq.

Alastair Macaulay is a critic and historian of the performing arts who was the chief dance critic of the New York Times and the chief theater critic of The Financial Times.

Ishion Hutchinson’s next book, School of Instructions, will appear in the fall.

Jennie Lightweiss-Goff is a professor of English at the University of Mississippi and is the author of Captive Cities: Urban Slavery in Four Movements.

Mark Lilla’s forthcoming book is entitled Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know.

Mitchell Abidor is a writer and translator. His translation of Claude Anet's Ariane, A Russian Girl will be published by NYRB Classics later this year.

John Psarapolous is an independent journalist based in Athens who ran the Athens News, Greece's English-language newspaper, from 1999 to 2009

Celeste Marcus is the managing editor of Liberties.

Leon Wieseltier is the editor of Liberties.