With Diabolical Lies, Pop Culture Discourse Breaks Left
A new female-coded pop culture podcast called Diabolical Lies answers the age-old question: Is it possible to have opinions about both Chappell Roan and Friedrich Engels?
19352 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Eric Adams vs. the Rule of Law
Even as part of a mayoralty characterized by attacking public services, scapegoating of migrants, and raising housing costs, New York City mayor Eric Adams’s pandering to Donald Trump in an effort to escape federal corruption charges is particularly brazen.
Google Is Jacking Up Its Prices
Google is jacking up the monthly price for its cloud-based software. If all users paid that standard increase, it would mean an additional $7.2 billion in monthly revenue for the company.
Germany’s Next Government Could Be Even Worse on Palestine
Sunday’s German election brought victory for Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats. Despite the fragile cease-fire in Gaza, the incoming government threatens even sharper repression against the pro-Palestinian movement.
The Eclipse of USAID by Digital Imperialism
In an era when power is increasingly defined by digital infrastructure and platform dominance, USAID was already losing relevance to the high-tech actors shaping US foreign influence, even before the recent attacks by the Trump administration.
The Dark Indonesia Protests Are Challenging Prabowo’s Rule
Indonesia’s right-wing president Prabowo was elected with a commanding share of the youth vote in 2024. This year, a new youth protest movement is challenging Prabowo’s spending cuts and the role of the military in Indonesian politics.
Donald Trump Is Walking Back Pipeline Safety Regulations
The 2020 rupture of a carbon dioxide pipeline in a Mississippi village that poisoned dozens of people inspired a slate of new safety regulations, proposed in the last week of Joe Biden’s presidency. Donald Trump has withdrawn the proposed rules.
Believing in the Age of Trump
In his new book, Believe, Ross Douthat contends that religious faith provides necessary social cohesion and personal meaning. But can a broad appeal to belief survive in an era of increasingly sectarian and politicized faith?
US Pop Culture Has Long Raged Against Health Care Injustice
The memes celebrating Luigi Mangione are far from novel: they represent a long tradition of American popular culture voicing outrage at the injustices of our health care system, from Dog Day Afternoon to Star Trek: Voyager to John Q.
USPS Privatization Would Cost Rural America More Than Mail
Rural postal workers don’t just deliver mail. They put out fires, help elderly people who’ve fallen, and ensure veterans receive medication during storms. Trump’s proposed USPS privatization threatens these care networks in areas already lacking services.
A Revolution in Everyday Life
In the decades after 1945, European leftists disillusioned with workers’ parties created new protest movements and countercultures. Their efforts were boundlessly creative — but also reflected an erosion of the mass politics that had sustained the old left.
Meet Trump’s Favorite “Woke” Payday Lender
The Trump administration wages a ruthless war on “wokeness” when it means gutting social programs. But when it means suing a predatory firm that acts woke while ripping working-class Americans off, Trump suddenly loses interest.
Poland’s Milk Bars Live On After Communism
In Poland, postwar Communist rule has few defenders. But state-subsidized eateries known as milk bars, designed under state socialism to free people from “kitchen slavery,” continue to thrive today.
Marx on Trump’s Abuses of Power
Karl Marx saw how presidential systems with strong executives threatened to eclipse the democratic power of the legislature.
A New Saudi Basketball League Reflects Sports’ Soulless Turn
Saudi Arabia’s plan to start its own international basketball league is the latest sign of the game’s drift into a world in which money, held by increasingly anonymous elites, has distanced sport from fans and communities.
QAnon Hasn’t Disappeared. It’s in America’s Bloodstream.
The QAnon conspiracy theory that Donald Trump was fighting a satanic pedophile cabal may have faded from national discourse, but its ideology, networks, and practices have become integrated into American politics.
Independent Media Can Defeat the Right’s Noise Machine
The information war against the Right’s vast media machine won’t be won by building a louder Democratic Party megaphone through corporate-funded outlets. The key is stronger independent media.
This Fired Federal Worker Wants His Colleagues to Fight DOGE
Before DOGE came along, Jonathan Kamens worked on cybersecurity for the VA. Now, he says in an interview with Jacobin, he dreads an avalanche of scams against veterans — and hopes his former coworkers will push back.
The Invisible Costs of Upward Mobility
Elite colleges are making a greater effort to recruit working-class students. But flinging open these institutions’ doors won’t end class inequality, and the burdens of working-class entrance into rarefied social circles are often heavier than they seem.
Interns and Residents Are Unionizing at a Rapid Clip
SEIU’s Committee of Interns and Residents won six NLRB elections in January 2025 involving 250 or more people. This string of victories has become somewhat commonplace for a rapidly growing union.