Portside

Some researchers have theorised that ultra-processed foods increase inflammation because they are recognised by the body as foreign – much like an invading bacteria. The body mounts an inflammatory response, which has been dubbed “fast food fever”.

America’s unbreakable fixation with football will only lead to more injuries like Damar Hamlin’s. A uniquely American concoction of capitalism and culture has allowed football to continue to thrive, even as the dangers it presents to players, both professional and amateur, have become clearer. Football remains the biggest hit on TV.

The Persian poet Majid Naficy still awakens at night, mourning friends and family, victims of the Iranian regime.

This new book is a history of the struggle over trade policy, and the impact of trade policy on U.S. society, from 1974 to the present.

If only Emancipation actually had a memorable message. Despite a committed cast and stunning cinematography, the film’s script is too blunt and the direction too ham-fisted to make it anything more than another rote entry in the slavery-movie genre.

“Honey Cake and Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors” was organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation. More than one survivor remembers sustaining fellow-prisoners with vivid descriptions of the foods they’d eaten in their earlier lives.

The 8-episode first season of Kindred forms an uneven, haunting adaptation of Octavia Butler’s classic.

Violence in North Carolina could not stop the drag show, as poet A.E. Hines depicts the resistance.

Dave Kellaway reviews Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Demon Copperhead and reflects on her contribution to literary fiction. She is one of the best living writers of the socially engaged novel.

This book of critical essays aims to introduce the radical legacy of science fiction writing to new audiences.