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What Really Happened at the Washington Post (w/ Becca Rothfeld)

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Mar 17, 2026

Guest

Becca Rothfeld

50:49

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ANECDOTE

Readers Credit Book World For Sparking Interest

Rothfeld received emails from readers who said Book World got them into reading book reviews.
Readers included professionals who hadn't read criticism before and became loyal subscribers to the Post's book section.

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ADVICE

How To Choose Books Worth Reviewing

Choose review subjects by mixing high-profile books with smaller presses and translations while avoiding needless takedowns.
Review morally or culturally important bad books when their failures reveal something about society.

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INSIGHT

Two Useful Kinds Of Negative Reviews

Negative reviews serve different functions: correcting overpraise or diagnosing culturally meaningful 'instructive' badness.
Rothfeld distinguishes needless cruelty from critiques that track an author's corpus or societal trends.

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What happened at The Washington Post

00:40 • 5min

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Role and structure of arts coverage

05:42 • 35sec

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Why newspaper book sections matter

06:18 • 2min

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Reader responses and impact

08:37 • 5min

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How she chose what to review

13:54 • 2min

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The value of negative reviews

15:50 • 5min

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Books as springboards for bigger debates

20:54 • 1min

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AI threatens thinking and moral agency

22:01 • 2min

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Person-shaped vacancy and moral degradation

23:56 • 3min

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Process vs outcome: why process matters

26:45 • 2min

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Luxuriating in inefficiency and human friction

28:54 • 4min

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When AI assistance is appropriate

33:15 • 2min

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Local news, efficiency, and the grind

35:36 • 2min

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Forced adoption and employer pressure

37:24 • 2min

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Looksmaxing: critique and partial defense

39:20 • 3min

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Beauty as an end, not just capital

42:26 • 3min

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Politics, aesthetics, and abundance liberalism

45:42 • 1min

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Favorite criticism: Lionel Trilling's influence

• Mentioned in 10 episodes

The Myth of American Idealism

How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World

Nathan J. Robinson

Noam Chomsky

In "The Myth of American Idealism," Noam Chomsky and Nathan Robinson dissect the history of US foreign policy, arguing that it has consistently prioritized strategic interests over democratic ideals. The book examines numerous interventions, revealing how the pursuit of power has led to devastating consequences worldwide. Chomsky and Robinson challenge the narrative of American exceptionalism, exposing the hypocrisy and violence inherent in many US foreign policy decisions. They offer a critical analysis of the justifications used to legitimize these actions, highlighting the human cost of these interventions. The book ultimately calls for a fundamental shift in US foreign policy, advocating for a more just and equitable approach to international relations.

#61616

Flaubert's Letters

Gustave Flaubert

Flaubert's letters compile the extensive correspondence of Gustave Flaubert, revealing his concerns about style, craft, and the art of fiction. The letters provide intimate access to Flaubert's aesthetic principles, his meticulous approach to revision, and his views on contemporary writers and society. Scholars and general readers value the collection for illuminating how Flaubert developed his major works and for its reflections on literary modernity. The correspondence also showcases Flaubert's personality, wit, and persistence in pursuit of artistic perfection. As a primary source, the letters are indispensable for understanding Flaubert's influence on modern literature and the discipline of literary criticism.

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• Mentioned in 2 episodes

the liberal imagination

lionel trilling

#11618

• Mentioned in 4 episodes

All Things Are Too Small

Becca Rothfeld

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership

Becca Rothfeld is a staff writer at The New Yorker, an editor at The Point, and the former nonfiction book critic at The Washington Post, where she wrote until the paper eliminated its books section amid sweeping layoffs.

She explains why book reviews matter and how criticism can introduce readers to ideas they didn’t know interested them. Rothfeld also discusses the role of negative reviews, what it means for a book to be “instructively bad,” and why criticism should challenge rather than flatter its audience. She also argues that the growing use of AI risks degrading human thought, and reflects on beauty, “looksmaxing,” and the kind of intellectual and cultural life worth preserving.

📚 Becca's New Yorker Articles: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/becca-rothfeld

📚 Becca's Website: https://www.beccarothfeld.com/

📚 Becca's Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250849915/allthingsaretoosmall/

0:00–5:41 What Happened to the Washington Post

5:41–13:08 Why Review Books

13:08–22:02 Reviewing “Bad” Books

22:02–39:20 AI and the Death of Thinking

39:20–45:46 Looksmaxing and Beauty

45:46–50:58 Favorite Book Reviews

🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership

🦩 MERCH: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

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