Private Equity’s Lucrative Takeover of Minor League Baseball
Private equity firm Silver Lake is eating up more and more Minor League Baseball teams — and reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies as a result.
18113 Articles by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
The Golden Age of Wisconsin Socialism
At its peak in the 1920s and early ’30s, the Socialist Party in Wisconsin used both confrontational tactics and pragmatic alliances with nonsocialists to make legislative advances. It’s a model that may hold promise for socialist legislators today.
Big Tech Is Lobbying to Keep Its Stranglehold on Local News
California legislators were considering bills that would have forced Google, Meta, and other tech firms to pay ongoing fees for earning billions from using news outlets’ content. Big Tech’s lobbying and strong-arm tactics helped kill the legislation.
In Italy, Tourism Is a Cash Cow for a Rentier Class
A recent strike by beach operators prompted ridicule in Italy, where they are widely seen as a protected group that lives off rents from public land. Their lobbying power reflects not just Italy’s reliance on tourism but the narrow interests it benefits.
Autoworkers Have Made Both Candidates Pay Attention
Anyone wanting substantive discussion of jobs in last night’s debate was disappointed. But because of the UAW’s organizing and strikes over the past year, both Trump and Harris felt compelled to insist they were the best candidate for autoworkers.
Justice Warriors Is Funny, but in a Way That Hurts
The indie comic Justice Warriors: Vote Harder is a heartening sign that genuinely subversive political satire remains possible, even in a world that feels like satire itself sometimes. And like the best of the genre, it hits a little too close to home.
The Apple Ruling Is a Setback for Multinational Tax Dodgers
The European Court of Justice has ordered Apple to pay €13 billion in back taxes to the Irish state. Apple’s long history of creative accounting is an object lesson in how the world’s biggest firms manage to shrink their tax bills.
Understanding the Politics of Israel’s General Strike
Last week, Israel’s largest union called a general strike in support of a hostage deal and cease-fire. Opposition from conservative members, the judiciary, and Benjamin Netanyahu put an end to the strike, which exposed deep fissures within Israeli society.
What Does Kamala Harris Want to Do as President, Exactly?
Onstage at the presidential debate last night, Kamala Harris gave the kind of substanceless performance that has characterized her campaign so far, seemingly designed to keep the country from knowing what she would actually get done in the White House.
This Can’t Be It
In last night’s debate, Kamala Harris rightly insisted that much of the country is exhausted by and ready to move on from Trump. But we deserve to move on to something better and more substantive than what Harris had to offer.
There Is No Such Thing as Spontaneous Worker Organizing
The 1930s saw the biggest labor upsurge in US history. Just like today, there was economic discontent and a general pro-labor atmosphere. But labor didn’t just passively benefit. Instead, it saw its opportunity to act, building unions for the long haul.
We Spoke to the Palestinian American Refused a DNC Speech
The Uncommitted movement put forward Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman to speak on the horrors in Gaza at the DNC last month. The party refused to let her speak. We talked with her about the refusal and the future of the Democrats and Palestine.
RIP James Earl Jones
Few American acting careers have made such lasting impressions on so many as James Earl Jones’s.
Barred From Government, France’s Left Seeks a Way Forward
Saturday saw protests across France after Emmanuel Macron named conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister. The decision fueled claims that Macron had ignored July’s election result — but has also put the victorious left-wing alliance on the back foot.
Democrats Don’t Need to Back Fracking to Win Pennsylvania
Kamala Harris has come out against a fracking ban, in line with the media narrative that voters in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania love fracking. But public support for the environmentally destructive practice in the state is thin and on the decline.
An Uncommitted Cofounder Explains the Movement’s Strategy
We spoke with Uncommitted movement cofounder Abbas Alawieh about the movement’s accomplishments at the DNC, the potential disaster of a Trump presidency for Palestine, and Uncommitted’s vision to change the Democratic Party’s support for slaughter in Gaza.
Dark Money Advocates Want Tax Breaks for Campaign Donations
A new lawsuit backed by Trump-linked operatives seeks to make dark money donations tax-deductible. The rich already face no spending limits on influencing elections and, if successful, the suit could turbocharge dark money in politics.
Meet the Viral Housing Activist Running for Australian Senate
Jordie van den Lamb, better known by social media handle “purplepingers,” has warmed the hearts of renters worldwide with his uncompromisingly deadpan war on landlords. Now he’s taking the fight to their Australian headquarters, Parliament House.
Who’s Afraid of Mexican Democracy?
Mexico’s judiciary is infamous for favoring oligarchs and other unsavory interests. MORENA’s judicial reforms aim to fix this by introducing democratic elections for judges — a move that has the US and global business elites in a panic.
A Different Way of Being a Man
Two masculinities are on display among the VP candidates: J. D. Vance’s, rooted in reactionary domination, and Tim Walz’s, embracing kindness and warmth. If the latter is used to challenge the status quo, it could effectively push back on MAGA-style manhood.