Essays Archive - Page 40 of 131

Remembering—and Forgetting—the Cuban Revolution

The history of Cubans’ mobilizations of, reckonings with, and debates over their past has not yet been fully told

August 24, 2021 • by Michael J. Bustamante

_____ There are two widely familiar versions of the Cuban story. According to the first, on January 1, 1959, a ragtag band of rebels swept down from the Sierra Maestra, delivering Cuba from the clutches of short-term dictatorship and longer neocolonial submission to the United States. In this view, the “triumph” of ...

Remembering—and Forgetting—the Cuban Revolution

The New School

Remembering Michael E. Gellert

Not just a benefactor but a friend, this émigré from Central European knew that the act of listening was the future of democracy

August 23, 2021 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

_____ One of the great honors of my life was to be named the Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology in May of 1999. At the time, I was very pleased because it recognized the value of my scholarship, teaching and service to the New School and the broader public. But ...

Politics

Cuomo and the Buffalo Bills’ Billion

When a political scandal and a stadium subsidy collide

August 23, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation last week following the release of a report by New York Attorney General Tish James showing that Cuomo had sexually harassed several women. When Cuomo officially leaves office next week, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will take over. Cuomo has been governor for more ...

Uncategorized

Retiring Does Not Mean Throwing in the Towel

Closing one chapter on work allows so much else to begin

August 11, 2021 • by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

_____ I’m out of there! I’ve stepped down as a tenured professor at The New School for Social Research. I came up through the ranks, advancing from Assistant Professor to Michael E. Gellert Professor of Sociology. Along the way, there were stints as Chair of the Department of Sociology and Liberal ...

Retiring Does Not Mean Throwing in the Towel

Activism

Undercover Investigations Expose Brutal Wildlife Killing Contests

Welcome to the cruel world of wildlife killing contests, family events where children play amidst piles of slaughtered animals—and legal in 42 states

July 21, 2021 • by Katie Stennes

_____ You would really have to try hard to find anything more depraved than a wildlife killing contest, which targets coyotes, foxes, bobcats, squirrels, raccoons, crows and even wolves and cougars in some states, for the sake of a prize that could range from cash to hunting equipment. These contests are ...

Undercover Investigations Expose Brutal Wildlife Killing Contests

Columnists

How Do We Solve a Problem Like ‘Vaccine Skeptics’? Stop Respecting Their Excuses for Bad Behavior

We’ve tried respect. It didn’t work

July 21, 2021 • by John Stoehr

_____ Henry Enten used to be a very fine writer for FiveThirtyEight before he became a talking head for CNN. I don’t hold that against him, though. He’s a number-cruncher. In this day and age, we need number-crunchers. And we need them to do more than crunch numbers. We need them ...

How Do We Solve a Problem Like ‘Vaccine Skeptics’? Stop Respecting Their Excuses for Bad Behavior

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

Art & Design

How Charlie Brown Remained A “Good Man”

Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz went to great lengths to avoid political controversy. But as culture became more political, he navigated that challenge with skill and grace

July 21, 2021 • by Blake Scott Ball

_____ Charlie Brown had a hard time choosing sides. This was always part of the humor of his character. It was also one of the many things he hated about himself. On New Year’s Eve 1965 Charlie Brown, the star of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts, decided to change: he would be decisive, clear-cut, ...

Race

One Karen’s Perspective on Our Whitewashed History

The attacks on critical race theory are only the latest chapter in the American fight against equality and justice

July 21, 2021 • by Karen Gaffney

_____ Not so very long ago, when we were children, my fellow white Gen Xers and I learned a whitewashed American history. That recent history can not only help explain white parents’ defensiveness about the teaching of race today, but also reveal the need for today’s children to learn basic concepts ...

One Karen’s Perspective on Our Whitewashed History

Middle East & North Africa

20 Years of U.S. Occupation Was Brutal in Afghanistan—And So Will Be the Exit

Alongside the relief of ending the longest war in modern American history, we need to acknowledge the horrors of what we are leaving behind in Afghanistan

July 21, 2021 • by Sonali Kolhatkar

_____ When a reporter in early July asked Joe Biden a question about the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. president sniped back, saying, “I want to talk about happy things, man.” Biden revealed, perhaps unintentionally, that the situation in Afghanistan is anything but a happy topic. It might have been one ...

20 Years of U.S. Occupation Was Brutal in Afghanistan—And So Will Be the Exit

Politics

In a Federal Infrastructure Bill, Waste Isn’t Pork

Politics may or may not be a sewer, but the fact is a lot of rural American backyards are: a Democratic Congresswoman from Alabama wants to fix that with tax dollars

July 20, 2021 • by Claire Potter

_____ There are two Americas, and of the many things that divide affluent Americans from poor ones, the one that we talk about the least might be the ability to take waste disposal for granted. But, of course, it isn’t always the case: tree roots growing into a fragile pipe, a ...

In a Federal Infrastructure Bill, Waste Isn’t Pork

Podcast

The Protests in Cuba

Past Present Podcast, Episode 288

July 20, 2021 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: The streets of Cuba are filled with protestors enraged by the poor handling of the pandemic and the excesses of the police state. Natalia mentioned Cuba scholar Rebecca Bodenheimer’s Twitter account and this POLITICO piece. Niki drew on this NPR ...

Essays

Remembering—and Forgetting—the Cuban Revolution

The history of Cubans’ mobilizations of, reckonings with, and debates over their past has not yet been fully told

Remembering Michael E. Gellert

Not just a benefactor but a friend, this émigré from Central European knew that the act of listening was the future of democracy

Cuomo and the Buffalo Bills’ Billion

When a political scandal and a stadium subsidy collide

Retiring Does Not Mean Throwing in the Towel

Closing one chapter on work allows so much else to begin

Undercover Investigations Expose Brutal Wildlife Killing Contests

Welcome to the cruel world of wildlife killing contests, family events where children play amidst piles of slaughtered animals—and legal in 42 states

How Do We Solve a Problem Like ‘Vaccine Skeptics’? Stop Respecting Their Excuses for Bad Behavior

We’ve tried respect. It didn’t work

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

How Charlie Brown Remained A “Good Man”

Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz went to great lengths to avoid political controversy. But as culture became more political, he navigated that challenge with skill and grace

One Karen’s Perspective on Our Whitewashed History

The attacks on critical race theory are only the latest chapter in the American fight against equality and justice

20 Years of U.S. Occupation Was Brutal in Afghanistan—And So Will Be the Exit

Alongside the relief of ending the longest war in modern American history, we need to acknowledge the horrors of what we are leaving behind in Afghanistan

In a Federal Infrastructure Bill, Waste Isn’t Pork

Politics may or may not be a sewer, but the fact is a lot of rural American backyards are: a Democratic Congresswoman from Alabama wants to fix that with tax dollars

The Protests in Cuba

Past Present Podcast, Episode 288

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