Richard Pipes, the Historian as Essentialist
For Richard Pipes, the anticommunist ideologue and historian, Soviet tyranny was rooted not in communism, but in the Russian soul.
19178 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
The Benalla Affair
One of Emmanuel Macron’s leading aides has been caught impersonating riot police to assault protesters. It’s a scandal that symbolizes a presidency.
The Return of the Super-Elite
New research reveals inequality levels not seen in a century — and it shows where these new super-elites live, too.
A Life on the Front Line
One day in 1944, Madeleine Riffaud saw a German officer walking through Nazi-occupied Paris and shot him dead in broad daylight. At 93, she is one of the last survivors of the French Resistance.
Israel’s New-Old Discrimination
The message of Israel’s new “nation state” law is as simple as it as repugnant: Palestinians need not exist.
“Crazy” Anticapitalism
Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You captures the crude madness that we live in every day under capitalism.
Bulletin: The Tyranny of Structurelessness in American Politics
Want to find out if “progressives” are winning their fight against “establishment” Democrats? Good luck figuring out who’s who — you’ll have to take the candidates at their word.
Everything You Wanted to Ask About Sects … But Were Afraid to Know
We joined the New Communist Movement because we were serious about changing the world. It taught us much about how to organize — and how sectarianism ruins everything.
The Wall and the Sea
Steve Bannon thinks the Mediterranean can be a laboratory for anti-migrant politics worldwide. Unfortunately, he’s right.
What Is Democratic Socialism?
Everybody’s talking about democratic socialism these days. Here’s what you need to know about it.
Bulletin: The Expressive Function of the Russia Freakout
Like the Tea Party in the Obama years, liberals lament a country they no longer recognize — and go hunting for foreign culprits to blame.
Narcissists in Space
Elon Musk and his space-baron brethren want our admiration. Their narcissistic exploits deserve nothing but our scorn.
When the Americans Came
Bombed by the US Air Force at the height of World War II, Rome’s San Lorenzo district symbolizes the resilience of a popular antifascism.
Divided They Fall
Tory disputes over Brexit are nothing new. But today’s crisis in Theresa May’s party highlights deeper fractures in the Conservative base.
Bulletin: The Coming Trade Blow-Up
How a book published twenty years ago predicted Trump’s trade war with China.
CEOs vs. Workers
Bernie Sanders’s town hall on Monday delivered a radical message: workers are getting screwed, and the capitalist class is to blame.
Gonzo Socialism
Hunter S. Thompson was born this day in 1937. While often claimed by the libertarian right, his politics had more in common with the radical left.
Flowers at the Tomb of a Fascist
The remains of Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco lie in a monument built for him by Republican prisoners of war. At last, the government is trying to rectify that.
When Nurses Strike
The nurses’ strike in Vermont has ended. Their target was a health care model that systematically endangers patients.
Bulletin: Ocasio-Cortez’s Blueprint for a New Politics
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prioritizes accountability to movements over loyalty to the Democratic Party. It’s the embryo of a new way of approaching left-wing politics.