Behind Tolkien

Behind the Shoot

Dina Litovsky | In The Flash | 19th August 2025

Photographer explains how to take a good picture of a politician, in this case NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for the cover of Time magazine. "What surprised me most was how little polish Mamdani seemed to have, at least compared to other politicians I’ve photographed." Her secret weapon is a sleight of hand magician, who dazzles her subjects with card tricks while she snaps away (1,300 words)

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Tolkien Against The Grain

Gerry Canavan | Dissent | 14th January 2025

Tolkien is revered by figures on the right, such as J.D. Vance and Giorgia Meloni. The Lord of the Rings is "obsessed with ruins, bloodlines, the divine right of aristocrats, and a sense of history as a tragic, endless fall from grace". But left-wingers love Tolkien too, finding anti-fascist and ecological narratives to revere. The secret to this broad appeal? His books are really about a "struggle over historicisation" (2,000 words)