Where Exactly Is Ling Ma Trying to Take Us in Bliss Montage?
Ling Ma’s new short story collection, Bliss Montage, leads us down strange, stimulating paths — and then leaves us before we can fully gather our bearings.
20417 Article(s) by: Elizabeth Mahony
Britain’s Tories Have Empowered Police to Attack Anti-Monarchy Protests
The recent arrests of anti-monarchy protesters are part of a broader trend. For years, Britain’s Conservatives have emboldened law enforcement to take an “arrest now and ask questions later” approach to policing.
While Workers Suffered, Railroad CEOs Raked in $200 Million
As a major strike looms, railroad executives have been paid more than $200 million in the last three years — while failing to meet workers’ demands for benefits and time off. They claim their skyrocketing profits do not reflect “any contributions by labor.”
The New Tom Hanks Pinocchio Is a Clumsy, Awkward, CGIed Mess
Disney’s remake of its 1940 animated classic Pinocchio is just as bad as you’ve heard.
Rail Unions and Employers Have a Tentative Agreement — but a Strike Isn’t Off the Table
The nation has watched as a labor dispute between railworkers and carriers escalated, prompting federal government intervention. The unions and bosses have a tentative agreement, but whether it’s strong enough for union members to ratify remains to be seen.
In Italy, a Once-Mighty Left Is Struggling to Make Its Mark
Polls for Italy’s September 25 general election suggest the far right is coasting to victory. Its center-left opposition is weak and divided — showing what happens to a Left that grows apart from its working-class base.
Joe Biden Is Backtracking on Protecting Water Sources From Pollution
In June, the Biden administration announced it would reinstate a rule empowering states and tribes to protect waterways from pollution by energy development. Now it’s supporting Joe Manchin’s secret deal designed to expedite approval of those energy projects.
Barbara Ehrenreich Was an Unabashed Socialist
The writer Barbara Ehrenreich, who died earlier this month, believed in a humanistic Marxism. Nowhere was this conviction more on display than in her writings on the sexism and cruelty of America’s for-profit health care system.
Workers at Big Brands Like Starbucks Aren’t the Only Ones Unionizing
The uptick in union organizing at brands like Amazon and Starbucks has rightly drawn attention from mainstream media. But worker organizing is underway at companies you’ve never heard of, too — and drawing little attention from outlets like the New York Times.
The Border Patrol Has Vast, Largely Unchecked Powers That Are Expanding
The Border Patrol has largely avoided the scrutiny that police have come under in recent years. That should change: the Border Patrol’s powers are increasingly authoritarian, with few legal checks, and expanding throughout the United States.
Canada’s Elites Are Toasting the Monarchy. Most Canadians Couldn’t Care Less.
In Canada, most citizens are indifferent to the British Crown — making the official Canadian spectacle of mass mourning for Queen Elizabeth II feel particularly ridiculous.
Minor League Baseball Players Have Won Their Union
After being nonunion for more than 100 years, Minor League Baseball players just had their union recognized by Major League Baseball. We spoke with a former minor leaguer involved in the unionization drive about the players’ impressive victory.
British Police Are Now Arresting People Just for Criticizing the Monarchy
In Britain, people are now being arrested just for saying things like “Who elected him?” about the newly crowned King Charles. It’s a shocking authoritarian clampdown — and it’s being applauded by the supposedly “pro-free-speech” right.
The Gonzo Weimar Germany of George Grosz
Between the 1920s and the 1950s, the German painter George Grosz went from being Vladimir Lenin’s favorite modern artist to a bitter illustrator in American exile. In between, he drew some of the fiercest caricatures of capitalist society ever seen.
Indonesia’s Fuel Protests Are a Sign of Things to Come in the Global South
Street protests have rocked Indonesia’s main cities since the country’s president, Jokowi, announced a cut to gasoline subsidies. With global energy prices soaring, the Indonesian protests are sure to be repeated elsewhere in the months to come.
Yes, the US Still Has a Child Poverty Problem
The New York Times released a big story this week declaring that child poverty has plummeted over the last thirty years. But their numbers are misleading: unlike social democratic countries, the US is still plagued by sky-high child poverty.
King Charles Has Some Very Strange Ideas About How Cities Should Look
For many years, Charles Windsor has foisted his opinions about urban design on the British public. The bizarre projects that the new monarch has sponsored, from Dorset to Transylvania, speak volumes about his cloistered and conservative worldview.
The 1929 Loray Mill Strike Was a Landmark Working-Class Struggle in the US South
This day in 1929, anti-labor forces in North Carolina killed a millworker and pregnant mother named Ella May Wiggins during the Loray Mill strike. She became a working-class martyr — and a symbol of labor’s fight to democratize the anti-union South.
Wall Street Is Funding Chris Rufo’s Culture War
Right-wing pundit Chris Rufo is stoking fears about “critical race theory” and “gender ideology” across America. Who’s paying his bills? Wall Street billionaires, intent on provoking culture war to divert Americans’ attention from grotesque wealth inequality.
Yes, Europe Needs a Minimum Wage
A proposed minimum wage for the European Union promises to end the race to the bottom on pay — and instantly improve 25 million workers’ conditions. Faced with a cost-of-living crisis, the move is a welcome step to support incomes.