The Political Isn’t Personal
In a world where the political is personal, we signal our political goodness — and hunt for political badness.
19639 Articles by: Elizabeth Mahony
The Coming Democratic Minority
Without a radical change in its relationship to working-class voters, the Democratic Party is hurtling toward doom.
And Now, a Message From Our Sponsors — the Organized Working Class
The “union label” ads of the 1970s are a reminder of how labor tried and eventually failed to win a battle for the airwaves.
The Coen Brothers and Their Big Socialist Losers
Spinning comedy out of misery, Joel and Ethan Coen have spent decades telling the story of American failure. No wonder they’re so drawn to American socialists.
The Socialist (Almost) Mayor of Buffalo
India Walton was set to become mayor of New York’s second-largest city. Then Buffalo’s establishment had their say.
Working-Class Politics Without the Working Class
Born at the height of the Clinton era, the Working Families Party thought it had found a way to build a labor party in America. Today, it’s advancing progressive politics with a far narrower base than it expected.
The Beatles and the Revolutionaries
Peter Jackson’s Get Back, the latest revisionist Beatles product, has glimpses of the political moment that made the band possible — and how distant we are from it today.
Palaces of Lost Promise
Berlin’s new Humboldt Forum is German neoliberalism in one building — retrograde, pompous, and built on the ruins of socialist modernism.
The New State Church
In our era, state capacity is faltering, and the size and scope of NGO activity is expanding.
The Media’s Breathless Shoplifting Coverage Ignores the Misery That Drives Theft
Corporate media is running constant, sensationalized stories about shoplifting — while ignoring the food insecurity and generalized desperation that is driving many people to shoplift.
The Left Should Stand for a Democratically Run BBC
Threatened with further cuts to its funding, the BBC has become ever less willing to hold the Tories to account. But while BBC news coverage has done little to enamor it to the Left, we should defend the principle of public broadcasting.
The CIA Is Still Spying on American Citizens and Lying About It
The CIA has operated above the law and resisted accountability throughout the century, and now we find out it’s been operating an illegal domestic spying program for years.
The Man Who Pushed Canada’s Conservatives Further to the Right
Ted Byfield, the founder of the far-right Alberta Report, left an indelible mark on Canadian conservatism. He was responsible for emboldening the most racist and anti-worker elements of the Right.
We Can Move Beyond Political Polarization Through a Working-Class Economic Agenda
US politics have become hyperpolarized along partisan lines. But they don’t have to be. Millions of Americans worry more about paying the rent or medical bills than what’s on cable news. They can be won over by a working-class economic agenda.
Portugal’s Communist Party Is Struggling to Return to Past Glories
Since the Carnation Revolution of 1974, Portugal’s Communist Party has helped shape its country’s destiny and defend labor rights. But the party’s setbacks in last month’s general election show how its working-class social base has drifted away from it.
Super Bowl Dancers Need to Be Paid
The NFL Super Bowl is one of the most profitable sporting events in the world — yet the halftime show continues to use “volunteer” dancers. It’s blatant exploitation of workers by an industry worth billions of dollars.
How Socialists and Trade Unionists Built a New Labor Organizing Model During the Pandemic
Millions of workers want a union. The Emergency Worker Organizing Committee, a project launched by socialists and the United Electrical Workers at the beginning of the pandemic, offers insights into how to organize them.
American Police Have Always Been Militarized
The new documentary film Riotsville, USA enriches our understanding of technologically enhanced police militarism in the United States. But militarization itself is not a 20th-century evolution in policing — it’s been there all along.
The Afterparty Is a Comedy Murder Mystery for Millennials
The Afterparty is just one of several new comedies about stressed-out millennials finding themselves trapped in a murder mystery. So what is it about this generation that makes them all want to star in an Agatha Christie story?