21029 Article(s) by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
A Teen Magazine for Grown-Ups
In a culture without a middle, Teen Vogue became a lodestar for aging millennials.
Workers Can Organize Outside the NLRB
When it comes to reversing labor’s decline, union elections through the National Labor Relations Board have proven woefully insufficient. We need strategies for building workplace power that aren’t dependent on the NLRB.
MAGA’s War on Teaching Goes Full Conspiracy Theory
What were once considered the ravings of tinfoil-hat conspiracy junkies are now par for the course for the Trumpian right and its analysis of the state of public education.
How Work Got So Bad
Under capitalism, technological “progress” like AI systematically deskills workers, deepens managerial control, and turns the labor process into a site of conflict rather than liberation. This is by design.
Police Tech Giant Axon Is Concealing Its Political Spending
Police body camera and weapons juggernaut Axon is reporting blockbuster earnings amid the Trump administration’s explosive spending on immigration policing. The company is resisting efforts to make it disclose its political spending strategy.
The Iran War Will Probably Increase Nuclear Weapons Globally
Donald Trump justified his war on Iran under the pretext of preventing nuclear proliferation. But as the US’s allies consider developing nuclear arsenals, he’s set a dangerous precedent for their enemies.
Die Linke’s Fight to Win Back Working-Class Germans
Last year’s elections saw a resurgence for Germany’s socialist party Die Linke. In an interview, coleader Ines Schwerdtner explains how the party is seeking to expand beyond current left-wing voters to reach broader parts of the working class.
What San Francisco Educators Won on Their Strike
Over 6,000 public school educators in San Francisco went on strike last month for the first time in nearly 50 years. We spoke to three of them about what they won, including coverage of skyrocketing health care costs and easing special education workloads.
What the Conviction of Marielle Franco’s Killers Reveals
Socialist Rio de Janeiro city councilor Marielle Franco’s killers were recently convicted, exposing deep ties between Brazil’s right and violent militias. The case shows democratic institutions can still hold perpetrators of far-right violence to account.
Columbia Student Workers Are Poised to Strike
In response to what they describe as foot-dragging by the administration in contract negotiations, student workers at Columbia University have authorized a strike. We spoke to some of them about their demands.
Robber Barons Are Doing Better Than Ever
A new report finds wealth inequality in Canada is reaching new heights, with a tiny elite enjoying lavish lifestyles while the many are left in the cold. The problem is not just moral obscenity but that democracy is perverted by vast wealth concentration.
A Venezuela Foreign Influence Scandal for Trump’s Circle
David Rivera, a longtime close friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is facing federal charges for allegedly acting as a foreign agent for Venezuela. The trial and its revelations about foreign influence are poised to bedevil the Trump administration.
Workers Are Leaving the Trump Coalition
New survey data show that many of Donald Trump’s 2024 working-class voters are already wavering. But most aren’t turning to Democrats — they’re dropping out of politics altogether.
US Military Aid to Israel Is a National Security Risk
We have another report that Israel used the military power the US underwrites to pressure Donald Trump into a disastrous war in Iran. US military aid to Israel makes Americans — to say nothing of the rest of the world — less safe.
Trump Doesn’t Even Know What Victory Over Iran Would Mean
Donald Trump has begun suggesting that his war on Iran may be over “very soon” as oil prices soar. Trump will proclaim victory no matter what happens, but he won’t be able to say what “victory” means, let alone persuade anyone else that he succeeded.
Shame of the Americas
The Trump administration’s Shield of the Americas summit in Miami convened leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean’s emboldened reactionary bloc. True to form, the president ensured the summit was a ritual of humiliation and debasement.
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! Is a Monstrous Mess
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! swings for a radical, genre-bending reinvention of Bride of Frankenstein. But the result is a messy, overstuffed film that makes an awkward attempt at feminist relevance.
Cornel West on How Neoliberalism Gave Us Trump’s Neofascism
The horrors of Donald Trump’s second term didn’t come from nowhere, Cornel West argues. They’re the inevitable result of decades of neoliberal policies that built the oligarchy, which, at long last, got behind him in 2024.