Attacks on Freedom of the Press Are Ramping Up
The state of democratic rights for journalists in some of the world’s leading Western powers is becoming increasingly worrisome.
19609 Articles by: James Bloodworth
James Bloodworth is a writer and journalist from London.
Big Oil Lobbied for a Wildfire Smoke Pollution Loophole
Because of a Big Oil–backed exemption, federal air quality data won’t reflect this week’s wildfire smoke. The exemption allows states to ignore pollution from “exceptional events,” freeing polluters from reducing emissions to offset smoke impact.
The Corporate Takeover of Soccer Is Ruining the World’s Most Popular Game
Manchester City is the hot favorite to win tonight’s Champions League final with the best team that an oil-rich autocracy can buy. It’s the latest stage in a long-term process that has converted the people’s game into a plaything of wealthy elites.
George Padmore Played a Vital Role in the Struggle Against Colonial Oppression
Born in Trinidad, George Padmore became a key organizer of Pan-African anti-colonial networks. Strongly influenced by Marxism, Padmore always stressed that national independence should lead to social liberation instead of just replacing one flag with another.
Populist? RFK Jr Doesn’t Even Support Medicare for All.
Many commentators see the eccentric Robert F. Kennedy Jr as an “antiestablishment” alternative to Biden. But he doesn’t even support single-payer health care, the brightest line dividing the centrist Democratic Party from its base.
Syriza’s Electoral Quagmire Reflects Its Crushing of Greeks’ Hopes
Greece’s general election handed a huge victory to the conservative New Democracy, as Syriza shed one-third of its support. With Alexis Tsipras’s party crushing any hope of an alternative to austerity, voters reached for right-wingers promising stability.
It’s Long Past Time to End the Tyranny of High-Stakes Testing in Public Education
When we sort children into “proficient” and “failing” categories based on test scores, we’re not solving the opportunity gaps that show up in public education — we’re just creating new ones.
Beltway Media Is Being Sponsored by Fossil Fuel Cash
Thanks to the protest of climate activists, a recent Semafor event featuring Joe Manchin became a viral illustration of all that’s wrong with the corporate-sponsored media model.
To Smash the Patriarchy, We Need to Get Specific About What It Means
Patriarchy doesn’t just mean sexism. It’s a concrete system of social relations that operates in specific ways. To get rid of it, we need to better understand it.
Ten Years Ago, Edward Snowden Blew the Whistle on the US’s Most Secretive Spy Agency
This week 10 years ago, Edward Snowden exposed the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance of Americans. The US government responded with ruthless persecution — just one egregious example in the NSA’s long, sordid history of fiercely guarding its secrecy.
No, Arms Dealers Don’t Count as “Environmentally and Socially Responsible” Investments
Arms industries across Europe and North America are trying to get credentialed as “ESG”-friendly options for environmentally and socially conscious investors. That’s absurd. As long as their products are used to perpetuate war, they will remain sin stocks.
The Greek Left Is in Desperate Need of Renewal
Greece’s left-wing Syriza party has been in crisis since it capitulated to the Troika in 2015. At national elections last month, it was trounced at the polls by the incumbent New Democracy party — meaning another four years of neoliberal policies.
Mike Pence and Chris Christie Are Going to Lose
They haven’t accommodated themselves to a basic fact: the Republican Party is still the party of Donald Trump.
Manufacturers of “Forever Chemicals” Have Been Hiding Their Dangers for Decades
A new study finds that manufacturers of cancer-causing “forever chemicals” knew about the dangers they posed 40 years before the public. Taking a cue from Big Tobacco, companies like 3M and DuPont successfully suppressed research and regulation for decades.
How Hollywood’s Anti-Communist Crackdown Made TV and Movies Bland and Boring
The conformity of 1950s film and television was the result of the successful McCarthyist purge of leftists — and their genres — from the entertainment industry. The life of socialist screenwriter Very Caspary shows how it was done and what was lost.
Oliver Stone Goes Nuclear
We talk to legendary director Oliver Stone about his new film Nuclear Now, what he thinks about his critics, and why he sees nuclear energy as a key solution to climate change.
Walt Rostow’s Development Theory Shows That Capitalism Relies on Brutal Violence
Economist Walt Rostow advanced an influential development theory while working as an adviser to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Rostow’s advocacy of murderous violence in Vietnam flowed directly from his theory of how to promote capitalist growth.
How a Small Left-Wing Union Is Helping Drive the Unionization Wave in Higher Ed
The past two years have seen a wave of graduate worker strikes, new organizing drives, and big union election victories. The independent, left-wing United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America has played an outsize role in this upsurge.
The Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators Changed American Teachers Unionism
Today is the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, the Chicago Teachers Union caucus that transformed the union into the powerful force it is today. CTU vice president Jackson Potter reflects on the caucus’s legacy.
For Proof That Corporate Greed Is Driving the Inflation Crisis, Look to the Car Industry
Cars have been the poster child of the current inflation crisis. Dealership executives have made clear in earnings calls why: not because they’re passing on higher costs to consumers, but because they want to net record profits.