Let’s Talk About the COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory
Whether COVID emerged from nature or from a laboratory leak is a legitimate debate. We still don’t have all the answers, but how that discussion was stifled bodes poorly for scientific inquiry.
19172 Articles by: Zola Carr
Zola Carr is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, working on a dissertation on the development of experimental brain implants for psychiatric disorder.
The US Invasion Was a Catastrophe for the People of Iraq
The US promised to bring freedom to Iraqis, but its eight-year occupation resulted in death and destruction on a horrifying scale. It left behind a corrupt, sectarian political order that has responded to popular protests with brutal repression.
Finding Solidarity in a Mexican Immigration Detention Center
Belén Fernández didn’t plan on ending up in a notorious detention center for immigrants in Mexico. But when an unfortunate series of events led her to Siglo XXI prison, she discovered a tremendous sense of human solidarity and collective resilience.
UAW Reformers Just Won Control of the Union. They Want to Turn It Into a Fighting Union.
Unite All Workers for Democracy, the reform caucus in the United Auto Workers, just won sweeping victories in leadership elections. Now they’re looking to transform the UAW, one of the largest unions in the country, into a democratic fighting machine.
Chile’s Attempt at Democratic Socialism Combined State Action and Bottom-Up Initiative
Chile’s socialist experiment was made possible by a confrontational working-class political party and a militant labor movement. The experience shows the promise, and the dangers, of a movement based in both government initiatives and grassroots militancy.
Emily Is Not the Biopic Emily Brontë Deserves
Emily Brontë is one of the most uniquely brilliant women writers who ever lived, the perfect subject for a feminist biopic. She deserves better than the shallow pop feminism of the new movie Emily.
Annie Ernaux Met Workers Striking to Defend Their Pensions
For the last ten days, France has been shaken by strikes against Emmanuel Macron’s bid to raise the retirement age. Nobel Prize–winning author Annie Ernaux met strikers at a Paris rail station to discuss how working life has been devalued.
The Paris Commune Was a Unique Experiment in Running a City for Its People
On this day in 1871, the Paris Commune began its brief history before a conservative government drowned it in blood. While it lasted, the Commune sketched out a new way to run a major city based on democracy and the public good, not private profiteering.
Otto Bauer and the Austro-Marxists Wanted a Socialist Revolution in Democracy
Austrian socialist Otto Bauer, like others in the too often forgotten “Austro-Marxist” school, sought to build a mass workers’ movement that could win parliamentary democracy — and then go beyond it by establishing a socialist republic.
From Meager Pay to Malnutrition, School Cafeterias Are in Crisis
School meal programs across the US are in disarray due to major staffing shortages and exploitative business practices, and kids are shouldering the burden. We can’t fix the nationwide cafeteria crisis without making life sustainable for the “lunch ladies.”
UAW Reform Candidate Shawn Fain Is Set to Win the Union’s Presidential Election
In a stunning upset in the United Auto Workers leadership election, reformer Shawn Fain is set to win the presidency. Fain is part of a reform slate that will now control the UAW after vowing to bring democracy and militancy back to the long-calcified union.
Adam McKay: Global Warming Is Not Being Treated Like an Emergency
Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay writes in Jacobin about climate change and the institutional blindness and warped incentives that should scare the crap out of all of us.
Party Down Is Back and Starkly Funny About Our Terrible Times
The first two seasons of Party Down were both honest and affectionate as the series satirized the lives of Hollywood aspirants working dead-end jobs. The show’s long-delayed third season retains that winning formula.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: France’s Pension Battle Isn’t Over
Yesterday’s protest in parliament and on the streets proved that Emmanuel Macron has no majority to increase the pension age. In a speech reprinted here, France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon argues that popular mobilization must keep going to build pressure for a no-confidence vote.
Britain’s Power Elite Has Defeated Its Challengers by Creating a Political Wasteland
Media pundits claim that British politics is experiencing a “great moderation” with the departures of Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn. What they really mean is that a decrepit model based on food banks and xenophobia no longer faces mainstream opposition.
The Republican Philosophical Tradition Shows Why Free-Market Freedom Is a Farce
Buried for many decades by the dominance of liberal thought, the republican tradition of freedom as nondomination has been excavated in recent years. Democratic socialists should embrace it.
Why QAnon Will Outlive Donald Trump
QAnon has become far bigger than any one political figure attached to it. Q is a new and radically postmodern species of right-wing politics, capable of transcending the boundaries of nation and culture. And it’s not going away anytime soon.
The GOP Pretends to Protect Children — While Literally Promoting Child Labor
Republicans say they want to “protect” kids by stopping them from learning about LGBTQ identity and racism. Yet they are simultaneously rolling back child labor laws to allow children to work in industrial laundries, construction sites, and meatpacking plants.
The Fed Insisted Silicon Valley Bank Posed No Risk to the Financial System
In 2021, the Fed approved a merger application from Silicon Valley Bank with Boston Private Bank and Trust, believing that the newly enlarged institution presented no danger to the financial system. After SVB’s collapse, the Fed is changing its tune.
Farmworkers in Florida Are Protesting Modern-Day Slavery
This week, Florida farmworkers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are marching to protest horrific working conditions including forced labor. In an interview, a CIW worker describes these conditions and how workers are organizing to change them.