Changing Channels
The Suez Canal is a symbol of Arab nationalism. It’s also a damn good source of national income.
20406 Article(s) by: Alex Press
Sinophobia
The GOP is stoking a 21st-century Yellow Peril.
It Looks Like a Strippers’ Union Is About to Become a Reality
Dancers at the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in Los Angeles have recently received positive signs from the National Labor Relations Board, which bodes well for their contested union drive. If all goes as expected, they will be the only unionized strippers in the country.
The Left Needs Its Own Vision for a United Ireland
A debate on Ireland’s political future if partition comes to an end is already up and running. Left-wing forces need to put forward their own agenda instead of allowing establishment liberals to dominate the conversation about Irish unity.
Seymour Hersh: The US Destroyed the Nord Stream Pipeline
Last week, renowned investigative reporter Seymour Hersh published an article claiming that the US was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline transporting natural gas to Germany from Russia. He spoke to Jacobin about the allegations.
José Carlos Mariátegui Was the Great Pioneer of Latin American Marxism
The Peruvian thinker José Carlos Mariátegui recognized the need to adapt Marxism for Latin American conditions instead of merely copying Europe.
Lula Knows How to Fight the Far Right. We Should Listen.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva knows the dangers of the far right all too well, and during his visit to the US last week he laid out exactly how to defeat such reactionaries: not by striving for a false unity but by confronting the foes of democracy head-on.
Kenyon Student Workers Are Unionizing. They Say the College Is Fighting Them.
Since 2020, undergraduate student workers at Kenyon College have been trying to unionize. We spoke with workers about what they say are the college’s union-busting tactics and NLRB delays preventing the union election process from moving forward.
Lost in Translation
Santa Is a Pervert and your other favorite Hollywood classics.
Turkey Doesn’t Need F-16s. It Needs Humanitarian Aid.
Less than a week after two earthquakes killed 35,000 people, the Turkish government resumed bombing Kurdish forces in Syria. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is spending $20 billion on F-16 jets — money that would be better spent on earthquake aid.
We Can’t Understand Islamophobia Without Recognizing Its Roots in Imperialism
Anti-Muslim racism has become a central theme for right-wing demagogues in Europe and the US. Islamophobia isn’t just a bad set of ideas: it’s a product of imperialism and the destructive wars waged by the US and its allies in the Middle East.
Policymakers Backed by Big Oil Are Trying to Rebrand Natural Gas as Clean Energy
The oil and gas industry and its political allies are promoting the use of natural gas as a climate-friendly alternative to other harmful energy sources, ignoring its negative impacts on both the planet and public health.
Knock at the Cabin Summons a Half-Baked Apocalypse
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest low-budget horror movie, Knock at the Cabin, is so overstuffed with exposition that even the end of the world is a letdown.
The Market Will Never Solve the Climate Crisis
When oil prices plummeted during the pandemic, fossil fuel companies made vague efforts to invest in clean energy. Now pulling in bumper profits, Big Oil is discarding those initiatives to maintain their business model: capital over climate.
Google’s YouTube Music Workers Are on Strike
A week after YouTube Music workers filed for a union election, Google issued a return-to-office order for the remote workforce. Employees, who say the order is an illegal attempt to interfere with the election, are now on strike. We spoke with some of them.
Beyond the Earthquake, Syrians Need US Sanctions Lifted
The Biden administration has thankfully lifted the sanctions on Syria to provide for earthquake relief. It’s a good first step. The next: lift the sanctions regime entirely.
Lula Knows Exactly Who His Political Allies Are
Brazilian president and working-class icon Lula da Silva made a major trip to Washington, DC last week. The two political leaders at the top of his meeting list: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.
Investor Firms Are Squeezing Every Penny Out of Senior Housing
In a senior housing complex in Pennsylvania, a Wall Street–backed landlord is hiking rents on an absurd scale. It’s part of a larger trend of real estate investors targeting senior care facilities at the expense of their residents and workers.
In 2021, Larry Summers Won the Inflation Debate. But His Victory Was Transitory.
With price growth trending down over the past year despite a strong labor market, it’s looking more and more like Larry Summers was wrong about inflation after all. It’s time to revisit the great inflation debate of 2021–2022.
Diplomat: Why the Minsk Agreements Failed in Ukraine
The Minsk Agreements were meant to ease conflict in the Donbas, only to be torn to shreds by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A diplomat involved in the Minsk process tells Jacobin why it failed, and what chance diplomacy has of de-escalating the war.