From the Editors Archives - Page 10 of 172

Columnists

Why Voting Rights Are Still Necessary Trouble

Just a year after Representative Lewis’s death, the rights for which he fought are under greater threat than they have been since 1965

July 21, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ A year ago last week, Georgia Representative John Lewis passed away from pancreatic cancer at 80 years old. As a young adult, Lewis was a “troublemaker,” breaking the laws of his state: the laws upholding racial segregation. He organized voting registration drives and in 1960 was one of the thirteen ...

Why Voting Rights Are Still Necessary Trouble

Columnists

Facts About the Covid Vaccinations Are Totally Political, Because All Facts Are Totally Political

We need a new consensus

July 14, 2021 • by John Stoehr

_____ As you know, Dr. Anthony Fauci is the White House chief pandemic advisor. He appeared on the Sunday morning talk shows as part of the administration’s renewed effort to achieve its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the US population. But his appearance seemed to do more than that. It ...

Facts About the Covid Vaccinations Are Totally Political, Because All Facts Are Totally Political

Columnists

“What Can I Do to Help?”—Said No Software Solution Ever

Re-hiring human beings for clerical, secretarial, and other traditional pink-collar work would create good jobs and make our offices more attuned to human needs

July 14, 2021 • by Claire Potter

_____ Is there anyone working for a large organization who doesn’t dread the announcement of a new “technology solution?” There’s a hard truth lurking behind every cheerful email about a new platform with a perky name and great graphics. That truth is: more work that used to be done by a ...

“What Can I Do to Help?”—Said No Software Solution Ever

Columnists

The Great Jobs Bait and Switch

July 14, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ When a corporation and local officials publicly announce an economic development deal, they both reap a bunch of benefits, most importantly positive press. Both the firm and the elected leaders get their names in the paper or on the local TV news, next to statements about new jobs and dollars ...

Columnists

A “Proud Capitalist,” Joe Biden is Championing Competition

Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism; it’s exploitation

July 13, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ Last week, as President Joe Biden signed “An Executive Order Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” he echoed the language of his predecessors. “[C]ompetition keeps the economy moving and keeps it growing,” he said. “Fair competition is why capitalism has been the world’s greatest force for prosperity and growth…. But ...

A “Proud Capitalist,” Joe Biden is Championing Competition

Media

Watching Afghanistan

On television and the Afghan culture wars

July 12, 2021 • by Jeannette Estruth and Wazhmah Osman

_____ Media scholar Wazhmah Osman’s book, Television and the Afghan Culture Wars: Brought to You by Foreigners, Warlords, and Activists (University of Illinois Press, 2021) analyzes the impact of international funding and cross-border media flows on the national politics of Afghanistan. Her research is rooted in feminist media ethnographies that focus ...

Columnists

The Very Serious Debate Club

On Josh Barro and his ilk

July 7, 2021 • by John Stoehr

_____ Josh Barro is a columnist for Business Insider. He’s a member of what I’ll call the Very Serious Debate Club. The VSDC constitutes, and I’m guessing here, probably half of the pundit corps in this country. These are men, and they are usually men but not always, who don’t have ...

Columnists

How Trump’s Big Lie Fuels Voter Suppression and Republican Authoritarianism

In American history, the attempt to overturn our election procedures for one man, based on a conspiracy theory, is unprecedented

July 7, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ Six months ago this week, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, intending to stop the counting of the certified ballots that would make Joseph R. Biden president and Kamala Harris vice president. This attack was unprecedented. It broke our nation’s long history of the peaceful transfer of power. You know the story ...

How Trump’s Big Lie Fuels Voter Suppression and Republican Authoritarianism

Columnists

Car Alarm in Oklahoma

Driving through an absurd incentive cover-up

July 7, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ Canoo — a company that makes not boats, but electric cars — announced earlier this month that it will open a new plant in Pryor, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was in the hunt for a Tesla plant that wound up in Austin, Texas, so officials there are spinning this as a very ...

Feature

My Arrest in Poland

The authorities hadn’t expected an American to be at this obscure performance

July 7, 2021 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

_____ “At the time the circumstances of my arrest in Poland seemed trivial. I hardly thought about them afterward. But now, when I consider the fall of 1989, and the fall of communism, my little run in with the Polish authorities seems highly suggestive of how things were then and what ...

Columnists

Remembering Gay Activist Vito Russo

Long before LGBT Pride was all rainbows, sunshine, and corporate dollars, this film critic and journalist typified what it meant to be a radical queer intellectual

June 30, 2021 • by Claire Potter

_____ It is June 28, the actual anniversary of New York City’s Stonewall Rebellion, and we are (thank the goddess) nearing the end of Pride Month. June is a pseudo-sacred time of year for queers and those who make money from us. Major cities and resort towns worldwide have been mounting parades, hanging colorful flags, ...

Columnists

Does Being a Billionaire Mean Being a Liar?

ProPublica has tax returns suggesting an answer

June 30, 2021 • by John Stoehr

_____ ProPublica is doing the Lord’s work. Specifically, investigative reporters Jesse Eisinger, Jeff Ernsthausen, and Paul Kiel are doing it. Two weeks ago, the nonprofit news group published the first in a planned series of pieces revealing, in exquisite detail, the moral character of the very obscenely rich. The series will ...