No ordinary cop show, The Shield starred the LAPD’s corrupt anti-gang unit, which itself functioned and behaved like a gang. The show vividly captured the failures of American policing that would animate the George Floyd protests 20 years later.
A recent viral video of a homeless opera singer in Los Angeles led to a happy ending. But it’s a reminder that capitalism prevents millions of our greatest talents (and everyone else too) from reaching their immense creative potential.
The Hidden Curriculum of Liberal Do-Gooders
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.
Human Rights Watch has not answered for its compromised independence from the US government.
It wasn’t just large, liberal cities but the heart of Trump country that formed the base of last Saturday’s “No Kings” protests. Together with his underwhelming military parade, they’re a warning of the softness of his support.
“Sharing economy” companies like Uber shift risk from corporations to workers, weaken labor protections, and drive down wages.
International competitions have brought millions together. But at times, this proxy for national pride has turned bloody.
In Baltimore and elsewhere, the ascension of blacks to political office has only masked persisting racial inequality.
In the California legislature, Democrats are pushing a bill that could hand control of the state’s energy markets to the pro–fossil fuel Trump administration. Expert analyses suggest the bill could jeopardize California’s trailblazing clean energy laws.
This May Day, we should celebrate the historic triumphs of the labor movement and the struggles to come.
No leftist writer can compare to Mike Davis — not in clarity, breadth, generosity, or ironclad commitment to the working class. Davis has died, but his ideas will continue to find life in generations of leftist activists and thinkers to come.
US public sector unions have gotten a reprieve. Will they use it to rebuild, or squander the opportunity?
Mike Davis forced himself to look at the very worst of our society and world. What he found wasn’t pretty. Yet he never abandoned the search for seeds of positive change — and for socialism.
The ban on performance-enhancing drugs is fueled by moral panic, not medicine.
The Internet was built by public institutions — so why is it controlled by private corporations?
Ling Ma’s new short story collection, Bliss Montage, leads us down strange, stimulating paths — and then leaves us before we can fully gather our bearings.
Barbara Ehrenreich was driven by both her undying anger at the profound injustices of life under capitalism and a fervent hope that the world doesn’t have to be this way.
As standards of living fall at the bottom and rise at the top, the only thing to do is watch TV about the trivial problems of the phenomenally rich.