Bhaskar Sunkara reflects on the rise, defeat, and possible renewal of socialism — and on the generations of ordinary people who fought to build a world beyond class domination.

Tony Blair Is a Demon the British Left Needs to Exorcize
Tony Blair’s capacity for malevolence appears to be without limit. Blair’s latest intervention in British politics is yet another bid to make the world an uglier, nastier place, brought to you in association with his tech billionaire sponsors.

Kathy Hochul’s New Budget Fails to Meet the Moment
After a long delay, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has passed a state budget — a budget that does almost nothing to protect the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers about to lose health care and food stamps due to Donald Trump’s federal budget cuts.

The Era of Central Bank Independence Is Coming to an End
Central bank independence has been a sacred cow for the last generation in the major capitalist economies. Donald Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair symbolizes the beginning of a new era based on overt politicization of monetary policy.

Spencer Pratt, the False Prophet of Los Angeles
Reality show villain and Donald Trump–endorsed Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt has turned his bitter grievances and dark fantasies into a viable campaign. But LA needs a political vision larger than one celebrity’s personal ambition and rage.

The Making of the Teenager
The teenager we know today came of age in the postwar era — but she owes her existence to the New Deal.
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.

Your Favorite Doctor Influencers Don’t Support M4A
Online doctor influencers have enormous audiences, partly built on their criticisms of the dysfunction of America’s health care system. So why do they never discuss Medicare for All, the universal program designed to address the problems they denounce?

The Democrats Are Determined Not to Learn From Their Failure
The Democrats’ botched 2024 autopsy doesn’t just leave out Gaza. It also simply pretends the left-populist upsurge embodied by Zohran Mamdani isn’t happening, while coveting its achievements.

The Long, Grueling Strike at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital
Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Michigan, have been on strike for more than eight months over staffing levels and return-to-work protections. The dispute is one of the longest nurse walkouts in recent US history.

Workers Are Demanding a Share of Samsung’s AI Windfall
A last-minute deal headed off a planned strike at Samsung, the Korean electronics giant. The unions have shown that a sustained campaign backed up by the willingness to strike can extract concessions, even from one of the world’s most powerful firms.
Socialism cannot mean merely managing capitalism more fairly. It must point toward a society where survival is no longer contingent on the market — and where democracy extends into the economy itself.

Mamdani Can Empower Workers Themselves to Enforce Labor Law
Zohran Mamdani can take labor law enforcement beyond traditional mechanisms by empowering workers themselves to enforce the law on the job, building peer education and empowering shop-floor workplace rights monitors.

Capitalist Markets Won’t Solve Pandemics or the Climate Crisis
In the 19th century, capitalist markets combined with environmental disaster to cause famines across the Global South. We might experience a similar tragedy again soon.

NYC’s Economic Development Corporation Can Build Public Options
The Left needs to show it can deliver bold, ambitious new public services. Zohran Mamdani can transform the Economic Development Corporation into an incubator for public goods that can meet the needs of all New Yorkers.

We Rarely See Films as Fresh as I Love Boosters
Boots Riley’s remarkably easy confidence and visual flair in I Love Boosters is a tonic in an era of boring CGI slop. He’s one of the most compelling filmmakers working today.