Hua Hsu
Hua Hsu began contributing to The New Yorker in 2014 and became a staff writer in 2017. He is the author of “A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the Pacific” and the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir “Stay True.” He served on the editorial board for the book “A New Literary History of America.” Hsu is currently a professor of literature at Bard College and serves on the executive board of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. He was formerly a fellow at the New America Foundation and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at the New York Public Library.
Should We Expect More from Dads?
Two new books assess our contemporary scripts for fatherhood.
A Portrait of Japanese America, in the Shadow of the Camps
An essential new volume collects accounts of Japanese incarceration by patriotic idealists, righteous firebrands, and downtrodden cynics alike.
American Counterculture, Glimpsed Through Zines
Zine-making is a tradition shared by the young and alienated, people enamored with the fringes of culture. Can a museum exhibit capture its essence?
The Makeup Artist Behind Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose
In the age of C.G.I., the work of effects artists like Kazu Hiro remains meticulously tactile. “I was sort of his canvas” for “Maestro,” Cooper said.
André 3000 Disrupts Our Sense of Time
André Benjamin’s début solo album of deeply soothing instrumental music asks for little beyond our attention.
Why Tupac Never Died
It’s because the rapper’s life and work were a cascade of contradictions that we’re still trying to figure him out today.
What’s in Your Pockets?
For the past five hundred years, their evolution has reflected attitudes about privacy and decorum, gender and power, and what it means to be cool.
How Nam June Paik’s Past Shaped His Visions of the Future
The digital artist was attuned to the rhythms of a changing world. A new documentary shows his struggles to navigate it.
J. Crew and the Paradoxes of Prep
By mass-marketing social aspiration, the brand toed the line between exclusivity and accessibility—and established prep as America’s visual vernacular.
What Conversation Can Do for Us
Our culture is dominated by efforts to score points and win arguments. But do we really talk anymore?
Randall Park Breaks Out of Character
The “Fresh Off the Boat” star made his career in amiable roles, but his directorial début, “Shortcomings,” is full of characters who are, in his word, “shitty” people.
My Year in Listening
Experimental jazz trumpet, haunted London club music, and Lil Yachty’s “Poland” made for the most memorable listening of 2022.
World Cup 2022: Maybe Team U.S.A.’s Moment Is Now
With the victory against Iran seeing the U.S. into the knockout stage, it’s tempting to wonder how far this creative midfield can go.
World Cup 2022: The Tears of Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese superstar remains an enigma as he begins what will likely be his last World Cup campaign.
World Cup 2022: The United States Almost Harpoons Wales
The young U.S. team couldn’t find the genius-level pass to solve a stubborn opponent.
Jamel Shabazz’s Poignant Images of “A Time Before Crack”
The iconic New York photographer captured a cohort of carefree young people, before the war on drugs.
Mike Davis Could See the Future
Often misread as a “prophet of doom,” the Marxist historian was actually an optimist and a dreamer.
The Good Spirits of “Drink Champs”
Using warmth, candor, and more than a little alcohol, the show creates some of the best interviews in hip-hop.
My Dad and Kurt Cobain
When my father moved to Taiwan, a fax machine and a shared love of music bridged an ocean.
A Ukrainian Music Obsessive Parts with His Record Collection
On eBay, Nikita Zhemerenko sells records and music equipment that have survived Russian air strikes.
Should We Expect More from Dads?
Two new books assess our contemporary scripts for fatherhood.
A Portrait of Japanese America, in the Shadow of the Camps
An essential new volume collects accounts of Japanese incarceration by patriotic idealists, righteous firebrands, and downtrodden cynics alike.
American Counterculture, Glimpsed Through Zines
Zine-making is a tradition shared by the young and alienated, people enamored with the fringes of culture. Can a museum exhibit capture its essence?
The Makeup Artist Behind Bradley Cooper’s Prosthetic Nose
In the age of C.G.I., the work of effects artists like Kazu Hiro remains meticulously tactile. “I was sort of his canvas” for “Maestro,” Cooper said.
André 3000 Disrupts Our Sense of Time
André Benjamin’s début solo album of deeply soothing instrumental music asks for little beyond our attention.
Why Tupac Never Died
It’s because the rapper’s life and work were a cascade of contradictions that we’re still trying to figure him out today.
What’s in Your Pockets?
For the past five hundred years, their evolution has reflected attitudes about privacy and decorum, gender and power, and what it means to be cool.
How Nam June Paik’s Past Shaped His Visions of the Future
The digital artist was attuned to the rhythms of a changing world. A new documentary shows his struggles to navigate it.
J. Crew and the Paradoxes of Prep
By mass-marketing social aspiration, the brand toed the line between exclusivity and accessibility—and established prep as America’s visual vernacular.
What Conversation Can Do for Us
Our culture is dominated by efforts to score points and win arguments. But do we really talk anymore?
Randall Park Breaks Out of Character
The “Fresh Off the Boat” star made his career in amiable roles, but his directorial début, “Shortcomings,” is full of characters who are, in his word, “shitty” people.
My Year in Listening
Experimental jazz trumpet, haunted London club music, and Lil Yachty’s “Poland” made for the most memorable listening of 2022.
World Cup 2022: Maybe Team U.S.A.’s Moment Is Now
With the victory against Iran seeing the U.S. into the knockout stage, it’s tempting to wonder how far this creative midfield can go.
World Cup 2022: The Tears of Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese superstar remains an enigma as he begins what will likely be his last World Cup campaign.
World Cup 2022: The United States Almost Harpoons Wales
The young U.S. team couldn’t find the genius-level pass to solve a stubborn opponent.
Jamel Shabazz’s Poignant Images of “A Time Before Crack”
The iconic New York photographer captured a cohort of carefree young people, before the war on drugs.
Mike Davis Could See the Future
Often misread as a “prophet of doom,” the Marxist historian was actually an optimist and a dreamer.
The Good Spirits of “Drink Champs”
Using warmth, candor, and more than a little alcohol, the show creates some of the best interviews in hip-hop.
My Dad and Kurt Cobain
When my father moved to Taiwan, a fax machine and a shared love of music bridged an ocean.
A Ukrainian Music Obsessive Parts with His Record Collection
On eBay, Nikita Zhemerenko sells records and music equipment that have survived Russian air strikes.