“We’re New — We Don’t Have Any Customs”

Two films about the Tennessee Valley Authority stress its utopian promise and the lives that had to be destroyed to fulfill it.

Voices From a Forgotten Revolution

The Rural Electrification Act (REA), passed in 1936 as part of the New Deal, enabled the federal government to provide loans to rural electric cooperatives. Access to electricity transformed education, farm work, and home life for communities previously ignored by big electric companies. Nearly 50 years after the passage of the act, the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives conducted 44 interviews with rural residents whose lives were affected by the REA.

Spaghetti Junctions

How did New York become the only metropolis in the world to insist that its transit map reflect the layout of the city above?

The Casualties of the Drone War

Since the War on Terror began, the US military has used aerial bombing campaigns to avoid American combat losses. But they’ve led to a staggering number of civilian deaths.

Putin Didn’t Unite Europe — He Just Militarized It

Whatever the outcome of the Ukraine war, it’ll mean a more divided and armed Europe.

Jeremy Corbyn: What You Should Read

What’s sitting on the nightstand of the Labour Party’s greatest living leader?

Get on the Bus

Chile’s private bus companies tried to repress the working-class vote. It backfired.

How Liberals Created, Then Destroyed, Publicly Owned Nuclear Power

The battle over New York’s Indian Point power plant was quietly a battle for the soul of American liberalism.

The Attack on Yemen’s Infrastructure — and the Humanitarian Disaster That Followed

Saudi planes have wreaked havoc on every part of Yemen.

Crypto Can’t Build a Better Internet

For all its utopian trappings, web3 tech like cryptocurrency only deepens the problem of elite control over the internet. We have an alternative.

Cuba’s Socialist Biotech

Despite sixty years of US blockade, Cuba continues its impressive medical research and development.

Hope You Like Swimming

While Congress stalled, the state of American infrastructure grew dire.

Capital’s Muddy Waters

For decades, capitalists have tried and mostly failed to privatize water supplies all around the world. But when they have succeeded, the result has been toxic health hazards and total disaster.

Too Crude to Fail

On Socialism, Infrastructure, and Mother Dear

Where Ships Go to Die

You’ve probably never heard of one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs around.

How Inflation Made Its Comeback

After decades in hibernation, COVID has unleashed inflation once again. Before we can fight it, we need to understand it.

The GOP’s Puppet-String Populism

Republican populism may have a new sugar daddy, but they’re hawking the same old solutions.

The Great Chicago Sell-Off

When Chicago sold 36,000 parking spaces to a conglomerate for 75 years, they did more than just rip off their residents.

The Hyperloop Can’t Save Us

Despite wild proposals from Uber and Elon Musk to build “the transportation of the future,” we’re not going anywhere with billionaires steering the ship.