Prediction market cheerleaders want us to put our money up, invoking the wisdom of crowds to justify betting on everything from sports to elections. But the probabilities are shaped by speculation and market design, not reliable forecasts.
The Power of Power Structure Research
Emerging in the 1960s, power structure research — mapping who holds power in society, how those entities are connected, and how they use their resources to shape major decisions — has been an important weapon in civil rights, antiwar, and labor struggles.
The Fallout Series Hits Close to Home
While streaming on Amazon is a little on the nose, the Fallout television series admirably embraces the anti-capitalist critique of the original video game franchise. Its apocalyptic alternate America feels less far-fetched every day.
Canada’s Oil Province Wants Out
Alberta’s sovereigntists are flirting with the Trump administration while promising freedom from Ottawa. But independence would expose the province’s narrow oil economy to capital flight, brain drain, and serious fiscal strain.
Wall Street–Backed Lawmakers Want to Help Banks Gouge You
State lawmakers across the US have moved to shield residents from sky-high interest rates charged by out-of-state banks. Two GOP congressmen, both heavily financed by Wall Street, are pushing federal legislation to override those state protections.
If Zohran Mamdani is serious about delivering on his promises, he needs more than policies — he needs institutions that empower working people. Popular assemblies offer a way to build a new, bottom-up political culture in New York City.
Trump’s Intervention in Iran Will Be a Disaster
Iranians have been trying to complete their democratic revolution for over a century. Every time the US gets involved, it sets that project back by decades.
NYU’s Full-Time Contingent Faculty Are Poised to Strike
After trying to bargain a first contract for over a year, the union for 1,000 full-time contingent faculty at New York University is voting on authorizing a strike. Contract faculty say NYU is refusing to budge on pay raises and job security protections.
Reassessing the People’s Hospital in the Bronx
After a militant 1970 hospital takeover birthed a pioneering detox program in the South Bronx, New York City is now studying what it dismantled, and what redress requires amid an ongoing overdose crisis.
Sócrates Showed Us the Best Way to Bring Politics Into Sports
Today would have been the birthday of the late, great footballer Sócrates, who challenged the military dictatorship in his native Brazil — an example needed today on the eve of a World Cup designed to be a Trumpian propaganda showcase.
Neoliberalism didn’t win an intellectual argument — it won power. Vivek Chibber unpacks how employers and political elites in the 1970s and ’80s turned economic turmoil into an opportunity to reshape society on their terms.
In France, the Far Right Has Its Martyr
French far-right activist Quentin Deranque has died from injuries sustained in a street battle with anti-fascist activists. Conservative media is using his death to whip up a moral panic about France Insoumise, painting it as a violent insurgent threat.
The Olympics May Soon Embrace Private Equity
The International Olympic Committee, the body that oversees the Olympics, is hunting for more revenue. It may soon open the door to private equity, which has been increasingly reshaping sports to squeeze every last dollar out of athletes and fans.
Jesse Jackson Paved the Way for a New US Left
With his two unabashedly left-populist campaigns for president in 1984 and 1988, Jesse Jackson opened the door to Bernie Sanders’s presidential runs — and a reborn American socialist movement.
The Prairieland 19 Case Is a Test for Criminalizing Dissent
Nine members of the “Prairieland 19,” anti-ICE protesters in Texas who the Trump administration is dubiously accusing of domestic terrorism, are going on trial this week. The case is a test for how easily Trump might criminalize dissent going forward.