An independent, ad-free leftist magazine of critical essays, poetry, fiction, and art.

Jared Marcel Pollen is the author of The Unified Field of Loneliness: Stories (2019) and the novel Venus&Document (2022). He lives in Prague.
  • Wittgenstein in Russia

    Wittgenstein in Russia

    In the 1930s, Ludwig Wittgenstein embarked on an abortive trip to Russia in order to work with his hands. Writer Jared Marcel Pollen traces the affinities between Wittgenstein’s late philosophy and the historical materialist currents that animated the Soviet revolution.

  • The Dream of Reason Brings Forth Monsters: Benjamin Labatut’s The Maniac

    The Dream of Reason Brings Forth Monsters: Benjamin Labatut’s The Maniac

    Jared Marcel Pollen reviews Benjamin Labatut’s latest work, “The Maniac”—a polyphonic account of the life of scientist John von Neumann, of genius and our awe and terror at minds beyond our comprehension.