Liberties Journal of Culture & Politics - 2nd Edition by William Baude & Abbas Milani & Susie Linfield & James Wolcott & Hamze Awawde (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Liberties is a quarterly journal of serious, stylish, and controversial essays on culture and politics.

In the Winter 2026 issue: William Baude on who is the greatest constitutional authority in the land?; Abbas Milani, Ali Khamenei: a profile in dogma; Susie Linfield on the politics of the hardened heart: the Left since October 7; James Wolcott on the very golden age of Donald Trump; Hamze Awawde, a Palestinian's plea for Zionism; Sheila O'Malley on an argument for tactility; Julia Keiserman, what on earth really happens in the cloud?; Agnes Callard on the moral dimension of leisure; Melanie W. Sisson on the new grounds for nuclear fear; Evan Parks on poems, protests, and the crisis in higher education; Andrew Butterfield on good governance in Renaissance art; Mark Edmondson, Robert Frost may have the cure for what ails us; Steve Wasserman on the rise and fall and rise of American publishing; Yahia Lababidi, the poet as seer: Milosz and Merton; Constantin Waldschmidt, when Freud and Rilke went for a walk; Morten Høi Jensen on a Mann of the middle class; Celeste Marcus, "I Am Trying To Live A Life I Do Not Understand"; and Leon Wieseltier on the big beautiful mess of the past, the present, and the future.

Also including poems by Rosanna Warren, Haris Vlavianos, and Amir Gilboa.

Liberties features essays from leading op-ed writers and scholars, award-winning writers, the next generation's rising talent, and poets from around the world -- there's a reason why cultural warriors, political leaders, opinion makers, and engaged citizens from across the political and cultural spectrum read and cherish Liberties.

About the Author

William Baude is the Harry Kalven Jr. Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School and the director of its Constitutional Law Institute.

Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University and the author of many books on Iran.

Susie Linfield is a professor in the department of journalism at New York University and the author of The Lion's Den: Zionism and the Left from Hannah Arendt to Noam Chomsky.

James Wolcott is the author of Critical Mass: Four Decades of Essays, Reviews, Hand Grenades and Hurrahs.

Hamze Awawde is an activist and writer from the West Bank.

Sheila O'Malley is a film critic who writes regularly for Liberties, Roger Ebert, and the Criterion Collection.

Julia Kieserman is a doctoral student at New York University. She writes about security and privacy issues.

Agnes Callard is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and the author most recently of Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life.

Rosanna Warren's most recent collection of poetry is Hindsight.

Melanie W. Sisson is a fellow at the Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at the Brookings Institution.

Evan Parks is the Director of Education for The Bronfman Fellowship.

Andrew Butterfield is President of Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts and has written widely on Renaissance sculpture and painting.

Amir Gilboa was an Israeli poet who was born in Ukraine in 1917 and died in Petah Tikva in 1984. "In Darkness" was written in 1952.

Mark Edmundson is a professor of English at the University of Virginia. His most recent book is Song of Ourselves: Walt Whitman and the Fight for Democracy.

Steve Wasserman is the publisher of Heyday Books and the author of Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie: A Memoir in Essays.

Haris Vlavianos' forthcoming collection of poetry, Renaissance, will be published by World Poetry Press.

Yahia Lababidi is an Egyptian-American writer and poet.

Constanin Waldschmidt is a writer and translator based in Washington, DC.

Morten Høi Jensen is Liberties' European Liaison and the author most recently of The Master of Contradictions: Thomas Mann and the Making of "The Magic Mountain."

Celeste Marcus is the executive editor of Liberties and the author of Chaim Soutine: Genius, Obsession, and A Dramatic Life in Art.

Leon Wieseltier is the editor of Liberties.