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The Blackpill
“Where does this darkness come from? Contemporary anomie has many sources, and it is felt most deeply by those who feel ‘ongezellig.’”
Jun 18
•
Jacob Zucker
27
4
6
Most Popular
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The Great Zombification
May 11
•
Owen Yingling
838
45
220
Against the Confessional Essay
Sep 29, 2025
•
Owen Yingling
254
12
52
Good Reading, Good Thinking, Good Writing
Mar 18
•
Josie Barboriak
200
10
46
What Was College For?
Jun 2
•
Benjamin Samuels
153
13
27
The New Critic
The Young Americans
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Ed. Notes
Contra!
Introducing our criticism section
The New Critic Secession
Our editorial manifesto
Essays
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The Blackpill
“Where does this darkness come from? Contemporary anomie has many sources, and it is felt most deeply by those who feel ‘ongezellig.’”
Jun 18
•
Jacob Zucker
27
4
6
What Was College For?
The winning address of the first New Critic essay contest
Jun 2
•
Benjamin Samuels
153
13
27
American Berserk
“It was always fucking Willie Nelson around here. Carl hated the Palestinians. He loved organic farming. The man contained multitudes.”
May 28
•
Samuel Rigg
31
1
Not New York
“Where will you be next year?”
May 26
•
Declan
89
6
9
Collegiate Value
“But I knew I would come to regret the nearly $200,000 in student loans I’d have to take out because I wanted to go somewhere beautiful.”
May 22
•
Clare Ashcraft
65
9
17
The Girls Who Watch Girls
“I remember us talking on treadmills positioned next to each other…getting ready to go out by rubbing the coconut oil she read porn stars used on our…
May 19
•
Sarah Miller
49
2
Postscript
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Last Girl at the Beginning of History
Postscript No. 18 | Mana Afsari on the boys and girls of gen z and the New Right
Jun 5
•
Mana Afsari
and
The New Critic
27
11
Voluntary Oasis
Postscript No. 17 | Declan Rexer on Deep Springs
May 30
•
The New Critic
and
Declan
18
3
Worse Than You Think
Postscript No. 16 | Clare Ashcraft on gen z doomerism and romantic delusion
May 22
•
Clare Ashcraft
and
The New Critic
19
2
Bridge over Troubled Water
Postscript No. 15 | Owen Yingling on AI at UChicago, the art of the polemic, and everything of any significance
May 15
•
The New Critic
and
Owen Yingling
31
2
4
Contra
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Terms of Service
Nadav Asal contra Kane Parsons’s Backrooms
Jun 12
•
Nadav
16
5
Snug as a Gun
Max Parness contra Theo Baker’s How to Rule the World
Jun 12
•
Max Parness
19
1
7
Ugly Fleshy Flap
Rufus Knuppel contra ear’s Rumspringa
Jun 11
•
Rufus Knuppel
19
4
Now the Story, Please
Isabel Mehta contra Eliya Smith’s Dad Don’t Read This
Jun 10
•
Isabel Mehta
14
1
From the Archive
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End Times
“Gasda’s bubble of hope in the BCTR is not enough to support all of our futures, maybe just his and a few beautiful actors.”
Dec 15, 2025
•
Zayd Vlach
67
8
12
p(doom)
“Can prediction markets shake the hedonistic monkey from their back?”
Feb 14
•
Rufus Knuppel
51
5
19
Curtis Yarvin Jr.
Postscript No. 13 | Steven Miller on living in Mencius Moldbug’s basement
Apr 15
•
Elan Kluger
,
Steven Miller
, and
Werner K. Zagrebbi
31
6
Freak Show
“Algorithms reward attention, and if you can’t get the good kind, then the bad will do.”
Feb 25
•
Theodore Gary
114
7
16
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