Labor’s Climate Fight Requires Public Ownership
Green politics won’t succeed if they can’t simultaneously speak to questions of affordability. And green affordability will require expanded public ownership.
20626 Article(s) by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
How Big Pharma Turned FDA Approval Into a Rubber Stamp
The Food and Drug Administration, once a powerful regulatory agency, has been compromised by its cozy relationship with Big Pharma. Despite feigned concern for public health, the Trump administration is only worsening the agency’s decline.
How Sweden’s Social Democrats Abandoned the Working Class
The decline of Swedish social democracy is an illuminating case study in why the Left is losing the working class. It also offers clues as to how the Left might win workers back.
LA Tenants Have Won a Breakthrough Against Landlord Abuse
Since Los Angeles passed its tenant anti-harassment law in 2021, the city received over 21,000 complaints but referred just 35 cases for prosecution. Now Highland Park tenants have forced the first-ever enforcement through relentless organizing.
Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon Is a Film for Musical Superfans
Richard Linklater must have extraordinary pull to get big-screen releases for his two esoteric period movies this year, because only a small group of avid American musical superfans will find Blue Moon interesting.
“Elbows Up” in the Shadow of the US
Canada’s new declarations of independence disguise continued economic and cultural reliance on its threatening neighbor. From Mark Carney’s trade diplomacy to the literati’s self-congratulation, Canada can’t imagine a freedom that isn’t defined by the US.
Socialists Won City Elections Across the Country This Week
It’s not just Zohran Mamdani — socialist candidates won municipal elections across the US last week. Like the New York mayor-elect, many of them focused their campaigns on affordability and relied on impressive grassroots volunteer operations.
In Cameroon, Hopes for Change Have Been Stifled
In October’s election, Cameroon’s 92-year-old president, Paul Biya, retained his four-decade-long grip on power. Electoral fraud and repression trap Cameroon in a system inherited from colonization, designed to serve foreign interests and a small elite.
For 50 Years, Morocco Has Denied Western Sahara Freedom
Morocco has illegally occupied Western Sahara for half a century. From Henry Kissinger to Donald Trump, US government officials have worked tirelessly to help the Moroccan monarchy maintain its oppressive rule over the Sahrawi people.
Nancy Pelosi Helped Drive the Democrats’ Degeneration
Nancy Pelosi has announced her retirement after decades as a shrewd political operator. A genuine leader in a party that lacks them, Pelosi bears a large share of the blame for the Democrats’ embrace of bland corporate centrism.
The Springsteen Movie Is an Emotional Workout for Depressives
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is the kind of well-done, serious drama that used to be commonplace in American filmmaking and now is vanishingly rare.
Andrew Cuomo’s Tens of Millions Couldn’t Stop Zohran Mamdani
Thanks to New York City’s public campaign finance system, Zohran Mamdani was able to defeat the moneyed and powerful Cuomo political dynasty. He was victorious despite record-shattering political spending from Andrew Cuomo’s fundraising apparatus.
Mayor Mamdani’s Budget Can Add Up
New York’s incoming socialist mayor faces real fiscal constraints — but also real opportunities. With a strong tax base, modest reforms, and a clear political mandate, Zohran Mamdani has the tools to govern.
ICE Is Planning to Build a Bounty Hunter Army
In addition to the extensive technology at its disposal, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is devising plans for a bounty-hunting program that would enlist private contractors to help carry out Donald Trump’s mass deportations.
Americans Are Being Crushed by Health Care Premiums
Millions of Americans with Affordable Care Act plans are facing devastating health care costs after Republicans failed to renew pandemic-era extended insurance tax credits. Meanwhile, major insurers are raking in extravagant profits.
As Neoliberalism Crumbles, It Becomes More Destructive
Economist Branko Milanovic is one of the sharpest critics of global inequality. He spoke to Jacobin about how the decline of neoliberal globalization is harshening its most destructive tendencies.
Bugonia Is Yorgos Lanthimos at His Best
In Bugonia, Emma Stone plays a kidnapped pharmaceutical CEO trying to convince her deranged abductors that she’s not a sinister alien in disguise. As a portrait of our political impasse, it’s a shocking, wild ride with an ending you won’t see coming.
Zohran Mamdani Is Bringing Bernie’s “Nevada Moment” Home
In 2020, Bernie Sanders decisively won the Nevada primary, in part because many younger immigrant voters persuaded parents and grandparents to vote for him. Zohran Mamdani’s victory, powered by similar dynamics, marks the second phase of this moment.
The Socialist Mayor of Schenectady
Long before Zohran Mamdani, Schenectady, New York, elected a socialist mayor who tried to make good on radical promises inside city hall. His short experiment still speaks to the challenges — and possibilities — of governing on the Left.
Zohran’s Victory Proves That Public Campaign Financing Works
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory shows that we don’t just need better candidates and stronger messaging. We need public campaign funding to financially invest in democracy.