On the Origins of the University in Exile

An Excerpt from “A Light in Dark Times”

The New School for Social Research opened in 1919 as an act of protest. Founded in the name of academic freedom, it quickly emerged as a pioneer in adult education -- providing what its first president, Alvin Johnson, liked to call “the continuing education of the educated.” By the mid-1920s, ...
Read More
On the Origins of the University in Exile

How to Live One’s Values in All The “Little” Choices

A Review of Making History, Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America

Living in interesting times is reputedly a curse, but Mickey and Dick Flacks tell a story of such times that makes them positively charming. The title suggests a voyage of discovery, both of each other and of national experiences and values, but the book itself has less to say about ...
Read More
How to Live One’s Values in All The “Little” Choices

Our Sixties: Blowin’ in the Wind

Thinking Morally, Acting Strategically

Making History/Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America is a chronicle of the political and personal lives of progressive activists Richard (Dick) and Miriam (Mickey) Flacks, two of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). As active members of the Civil Rights movement ...
Read More
Our Sixties: Blowin’ in the Wind

Defeating Trumpism Politically, Part 1

Trump’s ‘national emergency’ over a border wall

I started writing my Blue Monday column a little over a year ago. I’ve been so gratified by the many regular readers the column has attracted, and the comments, and criticisms, the column has elicited. The column began as an effort to weave together my passions for politics and music. Over ...
Read More
Defeating Trumpism Politically, Part 1

What to Expect When You Are Expecting Exploitation

An excerpt from ‘Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism’

In a witty, irreverent op-ed piece that went viral, Kristen Ghodsee argued that women had better sex under socialism. The response was tremendous -- clearly, she articulated something many women had sensed for years: the problem is with capitalism, not with us. Ghodsee, an acclaimed ethnographer and professor of Russian and ...
Read More
What to Expect When You Are Expecting Exploitation

Behrouz Boochani and the Biopolitics of the Camp

The New Primo Levi? 

 Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains, a literary sensation upon its publication in Australia in August 2018, and soon to be released in the United States, deserves a place alongside classics of the prison writing genre. [1] At the same time, it contains important lessons for everyone thinking about power in the ...
Read More

Immigrants Demand Permanent Residency

Hundreds march in Washington DC on February 12th

About 500 people came to Washington DC from different states to march from the White House to the Capital demanding that they be allowed to stay in the United States. February 12 was a cold and rainy day. Most of them came here under Temporary Protected Status from 13 different countries. President ...
Read More
Immigrants Demand Permanent Residency

Socialism and the Future of Gender Justice: Part 2

A Dialogue about Feminism in the Marketplace of Ideas

On August 12, 2017, Kristen Ghodsee published an op-ed in the New York Times, titled “Why Women Had Better Sex under Socialism.” The piece was due to appear in print a few days later, but the editors published the online version on that date. Coincidentally, the late night of August 11th and the morning of August ...
Read More
Socialism and the Future of Gender Justice: Part 2

Local Trust and the Syrian Withdrawal

One Marine’s Experience with an Afghan Elder 

The recent discussions about President Trump’s decision to pull American troops from the complex political and military quagmire of the Middle East leaves me with mixed responses. While I understand how we got here, overall I do not think that we should be in Syria right now; no national policy ...
Read More

Socialism and the Future of Gender Justice

A Dialogue about Feminism in the Marketplace of Ideas

On August 12, 2017, Kristen Ghodsee published an op-ed in the New York Times, titled “Why Women Had Better Sex under Socialism.” The piece was due to appear in print a few days later, but the editors published the online version on that date. Coincidentally, the late night of August 11th and the morning ...
Read More
Socialism and the Future of Gender Justice