
A Megachurch for the Glamorous
Blessed with celebrity congregants, the evangelical Hillsong Church was poised to take America by storm before it fell prey to sex scandals. Now megachurch America is following its blue-state blueprint.

Blessed with celebrity congregants, the evangelical Hillsong Church was poised to take America by storm before it fell prey to sex scandals. Now megachurch America is following its blue-state blueprint.

In 1930s Alabama, Communist Party members fought brutal repression to organize black and white workers in the Jim Crow South. Their efforts remain a source of inspiration for those fighting racism and exploitation today.

Vinson Cunningham’s debut novel, Great Expectations, follows a staffer working for a magnetic young black senator making a bid for the US presidency. It’s a book about the emptiness of political symbols and the comforts and dangers of blind faith.

Former New York mayor Bill de Blasio established a wildly popular universal pre-K childcare program. Current mayor Eric Adams is slashing it to the bone — a deeply loathed move that could spell political trouble for him.

College athletes have long been classified as amateurs rather than employees to avoid paying them and granting basic worker rights. A National Labor Relations Board ruling at USC could change that, opening the door to unionization for all college athletes.

World attention has understandably focused on the horrific violence Israel is inflicting upon the people of Gaza. But the brutal apartheid system in the West Bank has also been intensifying, along with the lethal violence used to enforce it.

Norway’s recent divestment from Israel Bonds is the latest piece of bad news for an Israeli economy that has nosedived during the war on Gaza — creating a huge opening for other divestment campaigns to hit Israel where it hurts and bring the war to an end.

Last month in Chicagoland, 130 Teamster food-service drivers went on strike and secured major contract gains. The workers won by extending the picket line nationwide, hitting employer US Foods at dozens of distribution centers across the US.

The International Olympic Committee has declined to curtail Israel’s involvement in the 2024 games and has placed half-hearted limits on Russia. The IOC claims it opposes the politicization of sport — but the Olympics are a historically political institution.

Democratic socialists want a society where robustly funded public institutions ensure that all families and children can flourish. Winning school board seats, as democratic socialists are doing across the country, is a good way to make that vision a reality.

As I covered the Hollywood strike this year, perhaps the best guide was a 1941 novel by a former Communist Party member about the dog-eat-dog scumbaggery of movie executives and the lying and artless bragging that Hollywood runs on.

Bandcamp was meant to be an alternative to the corporate behemoths of music’s streaming age, giving a better deal to independent artists. But the company’s new owner, Songtradr, has suddenly laid off half its workers, putting Bandcamp’s future in jeopardy.

Earlier this month, Maine’s voters rejected a referendum for publicly owned energy after a disinformation campaign led by the energy lobby. But in the US, ordinary people have beaten these interests in the past, and they can do so again.

From police associations to real estate interests, California power players are launching an aggressive strategy of recalling progressives in retaliation for votes they don’t like. In Santa Ana, Orange County, they just fell flat on their faces.

Across the country, DSA has faced attacks and slander for opposing Israel’s human rights atrocities in Gaza. It’s a testament to how effective socialist antiwar organizing, in coalition with other progressive groups, has been.

Yesterday pro-Palestine protesters staged a massive, historic march in Washington DC, the culmination of weeks of demonstrations in the US calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. We’re seeing perhaps the largest US antiwar movement since the invasion of Iraq.

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is polling in the low single digits for the Republican presidential primary. Despite his lack of popularity with actual GOP voters, he continues to endear himself to liberal pundits.

Union flight attendants at American Airlines recently delivered a strike authorization vote of 99%, with 93% turnout. The staggering total was the result of not only a membership itching to walk out but a campaign that engaged rank-and-file members.

Known for prosecuting Donald Trump on election subversion charges, Atlanta DA Fani Willis is using another high-profile RICO case involving rapper Young Thug to boost her image. But critics say her popularity is obscuring the wrongful nature of the case.

Oscar-nominated documentarian Raoul Peck is back with Silver Dollar Road, the true story of black dispossession in America.