Society

“There is no artist mother paradigm. So, when I, as a middle-aged woman, make art, people assume it’s my nice hobby. They don’t take me seriously because it’s not a paradigm that we celebrate or that’s particularly visible, culturally. But being an artist mother is an identity that, once it’s articulated, people feel very strongly.”—Hettie Judah, on the artist mother identity.

“What gives me the right to be able to do this? And, what gives me the right to be able to go about it in the way that I expect to go about it?”—Anthony Luvera, in our interview about about collaborative process and his co-created book, Frequently Asked Questions.

“State-created realities are designed to perpetuate power by those who hold it, no matter who is in office.”—Debi Cornwall, in our interview about her forthcoming photobook, Necessary Fictions.

In new book Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work, Robert H. Frank makes the case that, given how powerful behavior is as a contagion, it is prudent to put this to good use.

In her new book Well-Being as Value Fulfillment, Valerie Tiberius tries to address the question from the a life well-lived perspective of others; that is, how we can help others in a meaningful way beyond dispensing advice, wringing our hands at their dilemmas, or walking away in frustration when—according to us—they just won’t help themselves.

In Team Human, Douglas Rushkoff unleashes a manifesto equal parts fiery criticism and humanist faith to remake society before our systems remake—or break—us.

“Do you want to go to World Press Photo and feel bad about everything?” This year’s World Press Photo exhibit, on display in Amsterdam until July 22, is no exception to the rule that no news is good news.

“If you care about giving communities stability and a chance to keep themselves safe and produce a civic life, then housing is a big part of that story.”—Matthew Desmond, in our interview about his book Evicted.

“A lot of the things that people deal with in psychology that are treated as individual pathologies, are more a product of the economic structure in which we’re embedded, namely advanced capitalism.”—Michael Arfken, in our interview about his conference on Pathologies of Capitalism

“My project is like visual research into women on the shelf, arranged marriage, and the irrelationship—the forced intimacy—of it all. I want viewers to experience those forced relationships.”—Yingguang Guo, in our interview about her photo series The Bliss of Conformity.