The Rise and Fall of the Bob Ross NFT King
How one artist rode the NFT wave to fame — and then crashed with it.
66 Articles by: Ryan Zickgraf
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Ryan Zickgraf is a journalist based in Atlanta.
“Pink Slime Journalism” Takes Aim at Greenpeace
The Dakota Access Pipeline company just won a landmark suit against Greenpeace worth over $660 million. At the heart of the case is a new and particularly sleazy form of partisan communications masquerading as journalism.
The Meaning of Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan built his empire by presenting himself as an entertaining, independent commentator. He gave it up for the 2024 election.
The Case for Social Drinking
Americans are trading bar culture for wellness apps and mocktails. But despite alcohol’s many shortcomings, our national sobering up is not a simple cause for celebration. We’re also losing social spaces and traditions in an increasingly alienated society.
Why Air America Failed
The liberal attempt to counter Rush Limbaugh on the airwaves was too little, too late.
Dems’ Glitzy Celebrity Strategy Was an Embarrassing Failure
Democrats had a billion dollars to pull off a Kamala Harris victory. They hurled much of that money at celebrities and designing lavish environments to say the word “joy” in. It was one big A-list party, and Americans didn’t feel invited.
Working-Class Men Are Not Okay
Working-class American men are getting lonelier and sicker, and their lives are getting shorter. It’s not just a sad state of affairs; it’s a full-blown crisis that demands policy solutions.
Justice Warriors Is Funny, but in a Way That Hurts
The indie comic Justice Warriors: Vote Harder is a heartening sign that genuinely subversive political satire remains possible, even in a world that feels like satire itself sometimes. And like the best of the genre, it hits a little too close to home.
The 2024 DNC: All Vibes, Little Substance
The DNC revealed a Democratic Party still in love with the Obamas. The fantasy is that Kamala Harris will be a reboot. Brat summer is cooling — are you ready for an Obama autumn, heavy on feeling good and light on political substance?
J. D. Vance’s “Forgotten” Ohio Hometown Is on the Upswing
J. D. Vance portrays his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, as a dying backwater with a culture of irresponsibility and laziness. It’s actually seeing a revival — thanks not to a mindset change but to massive public investment of the type the GOP opposes.
The Redneck Menace
White Rural Rage is another attempt to blame the Democratic Party’s decline in rural counties on mean and bigoted white Americans.
A Twenty-First-Century Horse Opera
Yellowstone sells a fantasy of rural America — and conservatism — no different from any other prime-time soap opera.
White Rural Rage Is Shallow Pandering to Elitist Liberals
White Rural Rage, full of tired tropes about the bigotry of rural white Americans, distorts more than it reveals about the growth of the Trumpian right. It’s a shallow exercise in pandering to the prejudices of liberals.
Airbnb Was Supposed to Save Capitalism. Instead, It Just Devolved Into Garbage.
In the early days of Airbnb, many predicted that the company and other sharing economy platforms would “disrupt” capitalism as usual, finally making it work for all stakeholders. But that’s not what happened. Instead, it got us all hooked and then got worse.
Tyler Perry’s Wealth Is Not Trickling Down to Black Residents of Atlanta
Filmmaker and entrepreneur Tyler Perry is a billionaire. His Atlanta studios receive massive tax write-offs, premised on the idea that his success will inspire others. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a liberal version of trickle-down economics.
America’s Working Class Is Struggling to Survive the Gauntlet of Middle Age
New research finds that Americans without college degrees live roughly eight and a half years fewer than their college-educated counterparts. Being working class in America means being ground down and left behind, explaining the rise of “deaths of despair.”
While Fulton County Goes After Donald Trump, It Leaves Thousands Languishing in Jail
Democrats are calling Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney Fani Willis a “national hero” for her high-profile case against Donald Trump. Meanwhile, thousands of incarcerated people live in squalor in Fulton County jails, some dying without a day in court.
Stop Cop City Activists Want a Democratic Process. The City of Atlanta Doesn’t.
Activists with Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement, which seeks to prevent the construction of a massive police militarization complex, want to put the issue to a popular vote. But city officials are hostile to the democratic initiative.
Georgia Became the “Hollywood of the South” Through Massive Corporate Tax Breaks
The state of Georgia is subsidizing Hollywood CEOs to the tune of $1 billion a year. That money could go to schools, roads, health care, and good public jobs. But sure, a little peach logo in the credit sequence is cool too.
Mobile, Alabama, Just Diluted the Black Vote Through Annexation
Last week’s annexation vote in Mobile, Alabama, added thousands of white residents, reducing the black-white voter gap in the majority-minority city. It’s an effective strategy used by city elites to artificially inflate conservative political power.