Liberties Journal of Culture and Politics: Volume 5, Issue 2

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

In the Winter 2025 issue: Tim Wu explains why the only way for capitalism to flourish in the future is by decentralizing; Marci Shore encounters Ukrainian thinkers under fire; John Summers tells a true story highly unflattering to God; Michael Ignatieff wonders how to lead a liberal life; James Wolcott has his way with the celebrity worship at The New York Times; Maurice Isserman warns about the direction of the contemporary American left; Sally Satel documents the politicization of American psychotherapy; Len Gutkin reckons with the cultural cost of secularism; Robert Alter unpacks the literary greatness of the book of Job; Elena Kagan insists on giving William Wyler his due; Celeste Marcus takes a hard look at the debate about rape in war; Leon Wieseltier ponders the ways in which metaphysics makes life in the physical world bearable; and poetry from Katha Pollit and Yehuda Halevi.

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 political and cultural spectrum read and cherish Liberties.

Tim Wu is the Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science, and Technology at Columbia Law School. He is the author, among other books, of The Curse of Bigness and The Attention Merchants. From 2021 to 2023 he served as Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy.

Marci Shore is a professor of intellectual history at Yale University and the author, among other books, of The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution.

John Summers is a writer, historian, and the editor of Lingua Franca Media, Inc., an independent research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Michael Ignatieff's most recent book is On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times.

Katha Pollitt is a poet and essayist, and the author most recently of Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights.

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

Maurice Isserman has written many books on the history of the American left and is the author most recently of Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism.

Sally Satel is a visiting professor of psychiatry at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center.

Len Gutkin is a senior editor of The Review at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Robert Alter is professor emeritus of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at University of California at Berkeley.

Yehuda Halevi was one of the great Hebrew poets and philosophers in medieval Spain. These poems were translated by Dan Alter, whose most recent collection of poetry is My Little Book Of Exiles.

Elena Kagan is a public defender and writer in Richmond, Virginia.

Celeste Marcus is the managing editor of Liberties.

Leon Wieseltier is the editor of Liberties.