A Bill for Trump’s Madness Will Come Due
Donald Trump once said that under him, we would “get tired of winning.” As the United States sees credit downgrades, deep budget cuts, and potential fiscal crises, the wins are pretty hard to find.
19534 Articles by: Julia Goodman
Greenland Isn’t Buying Whatever Donald Trump Is Selling
Donald Trump’s overtures to the people of Greenland aren’t making a positive impact, even among those who are keen to break ties with Denmark. The island’s new coalition government is doing its best to keep Trump and J. D. Vance at arm’s length.
Democrats Can Avoid Trump’s Culture-War Traps
Donald Trump is skilled at inflaming culture-war conflicts to distract from the GOP’s shameless class war on behalf of the rich. For Democrats to counter Trump effectively, they need to attack the billionaire class.
Germany Is Using AI to Erase Pro-Palestinian Speech
Germany has been one of the worst Western countries for whitewashing Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Now it wants to do it with AI.
Debt, a Tool for Crushing Democracy
The European Union has reimposed tight limits on states’ budget deficits — but with exemptions for military spending. After years of claims that austerity was over, we’re now seeing it used selectively to put limits on democratic choice.
To Stop Losing the Culture Wars, Learn From Gay Marriage
To win on social issues, the Left has to develop the cultural competence to connect progressive goals with working-class priorities. The gay marriage fight offers a formula for appealing to ordinary Americans’ values without giving up on social progress.
Maybe We Need a New Word for “Inequality”
America’s richest earn in hours what ordinary workers earn over lifetimes. As Donald Trump’s tax bill seeks to make the plunder of the filthy rich permanent, “inequality” no longer feels like a strong enough word for what we’re facing.
The Surgeon General and the Wellness-Industrial Complex
Donald Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Casey Means, has been cast as everything from guru to sellout. But behind the fanfare lies something more familiar: a health-tech entrepreneur selling wearables and wellness with antiestablishment rhetoric.
Will the Mission: Impossible Franchise Ever Die?
In the eighth but likely not final entry in the Mission: Impossible series, The Final Reckoning finds Tom Cruise squaring off against an AI “Entity.” As always, the stunts are impressive. But no force on Earth can make Ethan Hunt a compelling character.
Israel Can’t Do This for Much Longer
Benjamin Netanyahu is running out of road for his genocidal assault on Gaza.
Is Die Linke’s Comeback Built to Last?
Germany’s socialist party Die Linke has been revitalized by its recent election breakthrough. With the Social Democrats cravenly backing Friedrich Merz’s conservative and militarist agenda, Die Linke has to offer a bold oppositional message.
In Syria, Aid Cuts Threaten to Feed the Return of ISIS
The al-Hawl refugee camp in northeastern Syria is effectively an open-air prison for 50,000 people suspected of ties to ISIS. The Syrian Democratic Forces are struggling to deal with them — and now the Trump administration is cutting US funding.
No, Let’s Not Build a Dubai on the Adriatic
In the Balkan state of Montenegro, public land is being turned over to luxury hotels and megaports for yachts. In a new agreement, investors from the United Arab Emirates will be able to bypass legislation and carve up the country as they please.
Thomas Müntzer Struck the Fear of God Into Germany’s Rulers
Today marks the 500th anniversary of Thomas Müntzer’s execution after he led a mass revolt that was both religious and social in its content. Müntzer’s complex, contradictory career has long been a source of fascination for historians of class conflict.
Big Tech Wants to Become Its Own Bank
To the dismay of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, the law currently prevents Big Tech companies from opening banks. But if Congress passes the GENIUS Act, tech firms may start issuing private currencies and forcing us to use them.
When US Labor Backed US Imperialism
During the Cold War, the CIA and State Department understood that there is power in a union. After the successful purges of leftists from unions, US labor leaders were enlisted by government officials to join in their imperialist operations across the world.
Can Unions Build Clean Jobs Under Trump?
The Trump administration isn’t supporting new clean energy projects, but green union jobs are still growing — for now. It’ll take state and local organizing to keep the momentum going.
The Politics of Papal Naming
The new pope’s homage to Leo XIII invokes Rerum novarum, the Catholic Church’s 1891 encyclical engaging with the social upheavals of industrial capitalism. His warnings about today’s economy suggest a renewed focus on justice, labor, and the common good.
Erik Satie, the People’s Composer
The absurd titles of Erik Satie’s compositions would provoke howls of laughter at concerts in early 20th-century Paris. Some critics condemned Satie’s eccentricities — but a new book argues that his wit is what makes his experimental work so important.
The Grim Timeliness of “Noir and the Blacklist”
A new Criterion series of McCarthy-era noir films is a timely collection for an era of rising government repression — though you wouldn’t know it from Criterion’s oddly subdued promotion.