Essays Archive - Page 57 of 131

Women’s History, An Origin Story

In 1975, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg published “The Female World of Love and Ritual, and changed how my generation of feminists understood the practice of history

March 1, 2021 • by Claire Potter

I first encountered Carroll Smith-Rosenberg’s “The Female World of Love and Ritual” in 1978. I was twenty and a junior at Yale. A teaching assistant passed it on to me when I met with her after class: a paper was due and my mind was empty. She said that there ...

Democracy

On Treason: A Citizen’s Guide to the Law

An excerpt exploring the meaning of treason and the present-day prevalence of alleging treason

February 25, 2021 • by Carlton F.W. Larson

As a professor of American constitutional law and legal history, I regularly answer questions for the media about legal issues. But for the most part, those calls tended to focus on constitutional law more generally and on other subjects I have written about, such as the Second Amendment or the ...

On Treason: A Citizen’s Guide to the Law

Feminism

Why #MeToo Isn’t Enough

The Morning Show wrestles with the ambiguities of workplace sexual harassment—and how complicated the truth really is

February 25, 2021 • by Claire Potter

"Can the word “rape” describe the experience of a woman who submits to sex, but only because she is so frightened she lost her capacity to move or speak?"...

Columnists

This Is What Government Looks Like

As the winter’s Covid-19 surge pushes deaths past 500,000, the Biden administration focuses on policy

February 25, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

This week the United States passed the heartbreaking marker of 500,000 official deaths from COVID-19. President Biden held a ceremony to remember those lost, saying "On this solemn occasion, we reflect on their loss and on their loved ones left behind. We, as a Nation, must remember them so we ...

Economy

The Truth About the Minimum Wage

How to take the word “freedom” away from the GOP

February 25, 2021 • by John Stoehr

" Bernie Sanders, still talks about it as if he can’t quite escape the economic framing conservatives established a long time ago. To be sure, he talks about fairness."...

The Internet

Why We Should Ban Oppressive Speech Acts

The debate around deplatforming and “cancel culture” remains mired in a naive understanding of how language really works

February 24, 2021 • by Natasha Lennard

_____ When Twitter and Facebook shuttered the account of Donald Trump, along with thousands of others for allegedly spreading far right violence and conspiracy theories, many felt that it was long overdue. Antifascist organizers and writers, myself included, have for years argued against giving platforms to white supremacists, including powerful public ...

Why We Should Ban Oppressive Speech Acts

Politics

When Politics is Music to Your Ears

A political composer sets the reconstruction amendments to music

February 23, 2021 • by Neely Bruce

_____ In an interview on NPR, shortly before the inauguration, Amanda Gorman said: “Everything is political. Especially art.” How true. In graduate school the same idea was drilled into my brain by Herbert Brün, brilliant composer, computer music pioneer, and one of my professors at the University of Illinois. I grew up ...

The Right

Stop calling the GOP ‘conservative’

That’s the lesson today from Texas.

February 18, 2021 • by John Stoehr

"As the late Rush Limbaugh said, if conservatism animated the Republican Party, there would be no President Donald Trump."...

Democracy

The United States Is in Recovery

What Texas, white supremacy and coronavirus can teach us about American history

February 18, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

"In the exchange, Americans saw a president who cared, and a government that finally, after its previous leaders had told them to get out of a terrible catastrophe on their own, responded to their needs."...

Education

Student Loans: The Origins of a Racket

The road to student loan hell was paved with good intentions

February 18, 2021 • by Devan Lindey

"Education can lift people and propel the country’s economy, but it can’t do that if it leaves many of its beneficiaries weighed down by life-altering amounts of debt." - Devon Lindey ...

Democracy

“Carl Schmitt’s Comeback?”

Understanding Trump and global authoritarianism

February 17, 2021 • by William E. Scheuerman

As the saying goes: “that was then, but this is now.” I had little inkling that Schmitt would soon become pertinent to present-day political developments. With the dramatic worldwide emergence of authoritarian populism, Schmitt’s thinking seems disturbingly relevant. As the Cambridge jurist Lars Vinx has correctly noted, Schmitt’s significance today ...

Politics

Nevada Gambles on a Tech Hub in the Desert

It’s not too late to stop it

February 17, 2021 • by Pat Garofalo

_____ As a general rule, anytime a lawmaker rolls out some hot new economic policy idea with the word “zone” in it, I start to get nervous. We all should. It’s usually less a way of helping struggling areas than an efficient plan for transitioning state resources to wealthy investors. But Nevada’s Democratic ...

Essays

Women’s History, An Origin Story

In 1975, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg published “The Female World of Love and Ritual, and changed how my generation of feminists understood the practice of history

On Treason: A Citizen’s Guide to the Law

An excerpt exploring the meaning of treason and the present-day prevalence of alleging treason

Why #MeToo Isn’t Enough

The Morning Show wrestles with the ambiguities of workplace sexual harassment—and how complicated the truth really is

This Is What Government Looks Like

As the winter’s Covid-19 surge pushes deaths past 500,000, the Biden administration focuses on policy

The Truth About the Minimum Wage

How to take the word “freedom” away from the GOP

When Politics is Music to Your Ears

A political composer sets the reconstruction amendments to music

Stop calling the GOP ‘conservative’

That’s the lesson today from Texas.

The United States Is in Recovery

What Texas, white supremacy and coronavirus can teach us about American history

Student Loans: The Origins of a Racket

The road to student loan hell was paved with good intentions

“Carl Schmitt’s Comeback?”

Understanding Trump and global authoritarianism

Nevada Gambles on a Tech Hub in the Desert

It’s not too late to stop it

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