Owe Me the Money
Americans are in debt, and so are many of the candidates hoping to represent them. Case in point: Georgia’s Stacey Abrams.
The Settlement PresidentDonald Trump’s settlements often used to right interpersonal wrongs. Now they involve hundreds of asylum-seekers.
If You Want Power, Sell ItAuthor Yuval Harari worries that liberalism offers no compelling vision of the future.
Hedging Your Bets With Lake SuccessGary Shteyngart’s new novel is all about hedge funds and traveling across America by bus.
Fake News Is Nothing NewIt may feel like disinformation is at an all-time high, but hoaxes, lies, and yellow journalism are age-old.
#AbolishICE … and Then What?Journalist Sean McElwee wants the agency — and the criminalization it exists to punish — to disappear completely.
Sweep the LeftThe guys behind Chapo Trap House say Trump’s undoer won’t be Robert Mueller, but whichever 2020 candidate can inspire (and expand) the left.
Listening to Inanimate ObjectsPodcaster Ian Chillag explores the secret lives of everyday objects we never think much about.
The Heart of Reality TelevisionIt isn’t all competition and cat fights. Born This Way follows the lives of a few charming individuals with Down syndrome.
Democratic Socialists of America, for the Win?Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have scary values to conservatives. But to the DSA’s national director, she’s a moderate.
Billionaires Don’t Know BestGenerous philanthropists may mean well, but they often hijack efforts that should be more democratic.
Stylometry
for DummiesWhat
prose analysis can (and can’t) tell us about that infamous New York Times
op-ed.
Impossible Job Demands? You’re Fired.The Pentagon’s third-in-command is reportedly losing his job. It was basically an undoable one.
Farming for Red HerringSouth Africa’s “white genocide” isn’t happening. One of the myth’s catalysts—farmland redistribution—might not either.
The OG GOPTrump’s disdain for democracy may be unprecedented in a U.S. president, but the Republican Party’s tricks have 19th-century roots.
Gerrymandering and YouCounty-cutting has given us only one clear winner so far, and it’s not the Democratic Party (or the country).
Don’t Touch the “I” WordMueller’s investigation is closing in on Trump. But talk of impeachment would drive Republicans to the voting booths in November.
What Happened to “America’s Mayor”?With every outlandish TV appearance, Rudy Giuliani loses more of the status he earned after 9/11.
Democracy Needs a RebootJason Kander is a rising star in the Democratic Party, and he wants to take it back to square one (in a good way).