Issue 45: Misery Index
Crunching the numbers on the class war.
19391 Articles by: Alex Press
ESPN Says It’s Okay to Gamble Now
Our sports entertainment industry has become interlinked with gambling interests.
Center-Left Governments Sold Out Western Sahara
Western Sahara is Africa’s last colony, and its citizens live under a brutal occupation. The Biden administration and its counterparts in Europe are set to cement that reality for generations to come.
The African Infrastructure Scam
How Western finance uses the promise of critical infrastructure to loot Africa.
Macron Isn’t Really Withdrawing From West Africa
Drawing on the War on Terror’s model of drones and special forces deployments, the French government is keeping troops on the ground in Africa.
Why India’s Economy Doesn’t Work
Economic woes that fueled last year’s unrest continue to hammer farmers and millions of others.
The Public Transit Solution That Never Was
The Alden StaRRcar was a noble but failed attempt to combine the virtues of public and private transport.
Built for a Supervillain
Jacobin ranks the all-time best James Bond villain secret lairs.
A Stunning New Chapter Begins for Amazon Warehouse Workers
In a staggering upset, Staten Island Amazon workers just won a union election. It’s the start of a new chapter for workers at one of the world’s most powerful companies
At Starbucks, There Are No Workers, Only “Partners”
A December 2021 missive from managers at the Elmwood Avenue location of Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, after workers voted 18 to 9 in favor of unionizing, shared by Starbucks Workers United on Twitter.
Hijackobin!
Our favorite hijacking movies.
On Canceling Writers
While certain writers or texts might fall afoul of polite society today, great writing can and will never stay canceled.
Palaces of Shelter
The metros in Kyiv and Kharkiv — Soviet-era “palaces of the people” — have doubled as bomb shelters during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Didion on the New Left
Much of the late Joan Didion’s writing from the 1960s and ’70s is characterized by a pessimism about the New Left. She thought hippies and the rest of the counterculture were worthy of contempt, and she thought radicals like the Black Panther Party and various Marxist groups were both ludicrously far from power and frightening menaces to society.
How to Make the Internet a Truly Public Good
Four lessons from Ben Tarnoff’s Internet for the People.
Sports Are Sinking in Crypto Snake Oil
The crypto takeover of European football promises to empower supporters — but in truth, it’s just marketing fluff for a giant pyramid scheme.
57,000 Channels and There’s Nothing On
American TV once threatened to become radical and strange through the proliferation of local stations. But it wouldn’t be allowed to last.