Black Bag: Not Much to See Here
Black Bag is being hailed by critics as highly sophisticated cinematic fare — rather than an unambitious rush job by a talented director eager to move on to his next, similarly unsatisfying project.
20395 Article(s) by: Benjamin Case
Benjamin Case is a researcher, educator, and organizer living in Pittsburgh.
An Autonomy Worth Having
Promoting meaningful freedom to people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse requires going beyond simple questions of individual choice.
In North Macedonia, State Neglect Kills 59
On Sunday, 59 people died in a nightclub fire in Kočani, North Macedonia. Years of inaction on health and safety standards led to a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
Ukraine’s Forbidden Frescoes
Ukrainian painter Mykhailo Boichuk and his circle of socialist artists perished in Stalin’s 1930s repression, destroying much of the movement’s beautiful public murals in the process. Today what remains of their work is a symbol of hope in dark times.
Severance Is an Indictment of Workplace Hell
Apple’s dystopian workplace thriller Severance entered its second season as a genuine cultural phenomenon. With its brutal satire of the American corporate structure, it’s easy to see why.
Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz and the Marxist Theory of Nationalism
Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz was a remarkably creative Polish Marxist thinker who developed a theory of nationalism that was far ahead of its time.
Was the Teamsters’ Amazon Strike a Success?
The 2024 holiday season Amazon strike seemed driven more by a desire for media attention than the development of the deep worker base fundamental to forcing the company to accept a union.
Let Workers Lead
The “worker-to-worker” organizing model adopted by many of the most dynamic unions and campaigns in the country has enormous promise for revitalizing labor — in large part because it puts workers themselves in the drivers’ seat.
Learning From the Courage of the Civil Rights Movement
Many on the Left are wondering what to do against the Trump administration’s vicious assaults on workers, immigrants, and free speech. We can look to the example of US civil rights activists, who kept taking great risks even after demoralizing setbacks.
Welfare State Modernism’s Lost Future
Central European designers and architects who fled fascism brought modernist ideals to Britain, reshaping its urban fabric. Today their work is being demolished, abandoned, or privatized.
A St Patrick’s Day Socialist Guide to Irish Film and TV
From Dancing at Lughnasa to The Wind That Shakes the Barley, from Peaky Blinders to Kneecap, here’s a list of Irish-themed films and TV shows for the discerning left-wing viewer — including the time Jackie Chan took on the IRA.
There’s a Hidden History of US Support for Irish Republicans
The solidarity group Noraid raised millions of dollars to support the Irish republican movement during the Troubles. Although Noraid attracted lots of hostile media coverage at the time, the group’s true history remains largely unknown and misunderstood.
Landlords Want Us to Think Rent Gouging Isn’t Price Gouging
We recognize extortionate prices for lifesaving medicine or bottled water after a natural disaster as price gouging. Landlords want us to believe that rent hikes forcing people into homelessness are just the market at work, but that’s not true.
All Games Are Political
Board games aren’t just escapist — they play a unique role in helping us imagine new worlds and different ways of working together. Recent games like Pandemic and Daybreak put the crises of our time on the table and ask us to solve them.
When Belgian University Cleaners Swept Out Their Boss
Fifty years ago, women cleaners at a Belgian university went on strike, then set up their own cooperative called the Liberated Broom. A new film shows how they kicked out the boss, starting an experiment in self-management that lasted for 14 years.
How the Right Hijacked Antonio Gramsci
Inspired by a misreading of Antonio Gramsci, far-right activists have spent decades attempting to shape intellectual and cultural spaces. But their version of Gramsci’s ideas leaves out a crucial element: class struggle.
Greenland’s Election Wasn’t a Victory for Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s desire to take over Greenland brought unprecedented global attention to this week’s election. But calls for independence weren’t the only issue at stake in the election debate, and there’s little support for integration with the US.
Trump’s Crypto-Invested AI Czar Cleared to Oversee Crypto
The Trump administration has issued a blanket ethics waiver to venture capitalist David Sacks, the president’s new special advisor for AI and crypto. The waiver clears Sacks to work on regulatory issues directly related to his financial holdings.
Georgian Mining Shutdown Leaves Workers Abandoned
The layoffs of thousands of miners in Chiatura, Georgia, ought to be big news in a country of under four million people. But most outlets have ignored the story, because it doesn’t fit the narrative of a grand geopolitical battle between East and West.
Unionizing UnitedHealthcare
The largest NLRB union election win in February was at the primary care group Optum Care, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare. The vertical integration of health care has brought frustrating consequences for health workers, who are now organizing in response.