Speakers on Cultural Criticism

Pragya Agarwal

knows the personal is always political.

Ayad Akhtar

tells many stories in many ways.

Rich Benjamin

holds up a mirror.

Mona Chalabi

is taking the numb out of numbers.

Grace M. Cho

is exploring intergenerational trauma through the connective potential of food.

Andrei Codrescu

is an OG.

Sloane Crosley

is a cultural critic with a punch(line).

Jennine Capó Crucet

is blazing a trail.

Isaac Fitzgerald

is who we want to be when we grow up.

Ben Fountain

is a pretty good attorney but a great writer.

Roxane Gay

is feminist AF.

Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah

is a brilliant tour guide to the most fascinating places.
Michelle Goldberg

Michelle Goldberg

calls it like it is.

Mira Jacob

has the hard conversations.

Ashley M. Jones

is a poet for the people.

Saeed Jones

is one man made up of many parts.

Jamal Jordan

is viewing things through a new lens.

Brian Klaas

keeps tabs on authoritarianism. He’s pretty busy most days.

Rachel Kushner

writes like your favorite mixtape plays.

Lyz Lenz

will get you fired up.

Daniel Levitin

knows why music makes you happy.

Jacki Lyden

is a good person to have with you in a war zone.

Carmen Maria Machado

thinks misogyny is boring as hell (and genre, too).

Sarah Thankam Mathews

builds community on and off the page.

Natalia Molina

makes sense of community.

Viet Thanh Nguyen

calls us to re-examine our own history.

Morgan Parker

is a poetic provocateur.

Ann Patchett

is a champion of literary culture.

Derecka Purnell

calls for action.

Jon Ronson

is brill!

Carina del Valle Schorske

translates beautifully.

Jennifer Senior

knows how you feel.

Sarah Smarsh

knows which way the wind is blowing.

Virginia Sole-Smith

feeds our minds, bodies, and souls. 

Andrew Solomon

writes important books about the most important things.

Jason Stanley

knows that words matter and why.

Amber Tamblyn

fights like a girl.

Jenna Wortham

is a cultural conduit.

Jenny Zhang

will make you laugh, cry, and (maybe) gag.