Thomas Frank: Our sad “Mad Men” revolution: How consumerism co-opted rebellion

Talking revolution with Lewis Lapham -- and how capitalism manages to keep coming out on top
Aspiring writers of my generation regarded — still regard — Lewis Lapham as the greatest essayist of our time. We tried to emulate everything from his glittering sentences to his rugged skepticism to his sartorial elegance.

For many years he was editor of Harper’s Magazine; today he runs Lapham’s Quarterly, which has just released a new issue on “Revolutions,” filled with historical writings on the subject in question. Back in March, Lewis asked me to join him in a public conversation at Book Court bookstore in Brooklyn to celebrate the launch of the issue; what follows is an edited transcript of the proceedings. Thanks to Book Court for making the recording available to us.