On Life, Death, and the Infinite Game

Who Killed Olof Palme?

The borders of Ukraine are no more arbitrary than those of Italy or Germany. It’s been more than three decades since the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme was assassinated outside a Stockholm cinema, and police have never found the killer.

Where on Earth Is Jimmy Hoffa?

All we know for sure is where he isn’t.

Fraternities With Hoods and Cloaks

The shadowy clubs that secretly control the world.

Conspira-Polling

Where the public stands on the wilder questions of our time.

Rachel Maddow’s Moscow Madness

The best of the MSNBC star’s Russiagate rants.

String Theory

Oh, what a tangled web we weave …

Papist Plots

Conspiracy theories about the Vatican are as old as the Catholic Church itself. Here are some recent ones.

Speak of the Devil

In the 1980s, Christian groups alleged that countless popular songs contained Satanic messages that could only be heard when played backward. The truth is more mundane.

TV Writers Say They’re Striking to Stop the Destruction of Their Profession

Television shows across the country are going dark because their writers have walked off the job. The strikers say they had no choice but to walk, as new technology and the squeeze from executives have put their very livelihood in serious danger.

New York’s Left Eked Out a Few Victories in an Otherwise Dismal Austerity Budget

Socialists and progressives won a few key demands in the New York state budget battles. But overall, Gov. Kathy Hochul rammed through an awful budget that will make life much worse for the state of New York’s working class.

How Pete Seeger Turned Green

Socialist Pete Seeger, born on this day in 1919, is widely acknowledged to be one of America’s greatest folk singers. Less appreciated is his environmentalism, which he always saw as inextricable from his left-wing politics.

The Dark Money–Backed Supreme Court Is a Threat to Student Debt Relief

A Supreme Court case brought by six Republican attorneys general to kill Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation plan is neglecting key evidence. The dark money–backed court appears willing to disregard its judicial principles and strike the measure down anyway.

Joe Biden’s Reelection Campaign Is Off to an Uninspiring, Oligarch-Driven Start

After talking with grassroots organizers for six minutes last Thursday, Biden spent the weekend hobnobbing with his real constituents: the hedge fund managers and executives he’s going to spend the next eighteen months begging for money.

Tax Private Jets Into Oblivion

Private jet ownership and usage has actually grown in recent years. There’s no justification for this. It’s time to raise taxes on private jets.

Turkey’s Election Is About Democracy Itself

Even before February’s earthquake claimed 50,000 lives, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had presided over many disasters in Turkey. Defeating him in this month’s election is essential if the country is going to turn away from permanent authoritarian rule.

We Don’t Just Need Medicare for All — We Need a National Health System

The founders of Physicians for a National Health Program put single-payer health care on the map. Now, discussing the next phase of the movement, they say even single-payer won’t be enough to fix the problems caused by continued privatization.

Tonia Lechtman’s Life Embodied the Struggle for Human Dignity

Tonia Lechtman was a Polish Jewish communist who was deprived of her freedom by five different dictatorships. Her resilience in the face of oppression was built on a determination to build a world fit for human beings.

Asset Managers Like BlackRock Are Controlling More and More of Our Lives

Giant asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard are increasingly but imperceptibly becoming owners of more and more aspects of our lives, from housing to roads to energy infrastructure.

US Imperialism Alone Can’t Explain the Triumph of the Right in Latin America

The United States has repeatedly intervened in Latin America to overthrow democratically elected governments and install right-wing dictatorships. But homegrown far-right forces in Latin America itself have often proved just as important as US meddling.