Listen "Does Criticism Still Matter?"
Episode Synopsis
In this special episode, hosts Medaya Ocher, Kate Wolf, and Eric Newman debate an age-old question that's being taken up in new ways amid an increasingly atomized landscape for thinking and writing about the literature and art that moves (as well as enervates) us. What does it mean for criticism to "matter"? And what indications do we have that it does beyond the measure of the marketplace? The hosts discuss what they think has changed—and hasn't—about how and where reviews circulate, the art of the take down, what they look for in a good piece of criticism, and if you can trust the New York Times Book Review. They also discuss the many roles critics play—from forming canons to puncturing them, using specific language, and transforming personal taste and sensibility into something that can, occasionally, change culture.
More episodes of the podcast LA Review of Books
Mosab Abu Toha's "Forest of Noise"
29/08/2025
Michael Clune's "Pan"
01/08/2025
LARB Book Club: Sebastian Castillo
25/07/2025
Catherine Lacy's "The Möbius Book"
18/07/2025