The Nutty ’90s
John Ganz’s When the Clock Broke offers a tour of ’90s politics, from Klansmen strangled on talk shows to a drugged-up George H. W. Bush running for office.
19514 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Is Hollywood Still Liberal?
Charting the political orientation of recent blockbuster cinema.
H-Pop
For centuries, working-class musicians have raged against the machine.
One Week in the Mind of Tim Snyder
The historian documents history in real time.
Jacobin Joins the #Resistance
Jacobin Joins the #Resistance
The Bearers of Bad News
The far right just doesn’t read like it used to.
With Newsom’s Veto, Big Tech Beats Democracy
California governor Gavin Newsom just killed the most significant AI safety legislation in the United States. His veto of SB 1047 is the result of a tech industry pressure campaign that puts us all in danger.
Kamala Harris’s Tax Credits Won’t Solve Underinvestment
Last week, Kamala Harris unveiled a woefully inadequate plan to increase investment in industry through tax credits. Workers’ pension funds hold billions in savings that could fund green energy and affordable housing, if only they were democratically run.
Sri Lanka Is Experiencing a Political Earthquake
This month, Sri Lanka elected an avowedly left-wing president for the first time. The new administration will be caught between the expectations of its supporters for change and pressure from the IMF to continue with a destructive austerity program.
The Immortal Ghost of Karl Marx
Liberal critics would love to banish the specter of Karl Marx from political discourse. But his ghost will haunt them for as long as they refuse to confront Marxism’s central insight: the reality of class conflict.
Megalopolis Is Francis Ford Coppola’s Sad Nadir
Francis Ford Coppola was once a real cinematic titan creating indelible experiences at the movies. But Megalopolis, his overstuffed saga of the failing American empire, marks the drastic decline of his powers as a filmmaker.
There’s No Such Thing as Escalating to De-Escalate
Israeli officials have cited a need to “escalate to de-escalate” as motivation for their ongoing assault on Lebanon. This theory has a long and ill-fated history in American foreign policy thinking, where it has served as a fait accompli for bloodshed.
The Dutch Asylum Crisis Law Is Baseless and Dangerous
The new Dutch government has declared an “asylum crisis,” allowing it to take emergency anti-migration measures without parliamentary approval. Based on trumped-up claims about migrants, it rewards decades of far-right posturing on the issue.
Sports Betting Will Do to America What It’s Done to Australia
Australia is the canary in the coal mine for sports betting, and Americans should pay attention to the destruction the industry has caused.
India’s Largest Paramilitary Force Got Away With Terror
Today marks 16 years since Hindu supremacists bombed a marketplace in Malegaon, India, in an anti-Muslim terror attack. The killers were linked to the RSS paramilitary group — but they still haven’t been brought to justice.
Using Research to Uncover Campus Complicity in Genocide
Across the US, students organizing against Israel’s assault on Gaza have made essential use of power research, uncovering financial ties between the Pentagon and campus labs and mapping out connections between university trustees and the war machine.
Operation Dixie Failed but Pushed Racial Equality Forward
The famous Operation Dixie campaign to unionize the South in the 1940s was mostly unsuccessful. Still, it left a positive mark on American society. It’s even possible that the civil rights movement wouldn’t have staged the March on Washington without it.
The Damage Gerry Healy Wrought
Head of one of the biggest far-left groups in 1970s Britain, Gerry Healy was accused of rape and sexual abuse. A new biography reflects on the swamp from which he emerged — and how his group’s authoritarian model facilitated his crimes.
Access to Medical Resources in Court Facilities Is a Right
The New York City legal system is regularly neglecting the most basic medical needs of those in its custody. This has to change.
For Ken Klippenstein, Against Censorship
Twitter’s banning of Ken Klippenstein and suppression of his journalism should be a wake-up call that tech censorship is a threat to press freedom across the political spectrum.