Essays Archive - Page 72 of 131

Tense Times with Protesters in a Brooklyn Hot Zone

As New Yorkers brace for a second surge, Orthodox communities that resist public health directives, and the NYPD, lead the way

October 8, 2020 • by Mitchell Abidor

----- On the morning of October 7, I discovered that Marine Park, the neighborhood in deepest Brooklyn where I live, is in the red zone of neighborhoods experiencing alarming increases in the number of positive COVID-19 tests. While the rest of New York state has a positive test rate of 1.2%, the ...

Tense Times with Protesters in a Brooklyn Hot Zone

North America

Amy Coney Barrett’s Fall from Grace

A Rose Garden superspreader event puts in doubt the Supreme Court nominee’s commitment to the right to life

October 8, 2020 • by Eileen Hunt Botting

----- It was supposed to be her big moment. One sunny Saturday in late September, the White House summoned Amy Coney Barrett for a historic ceremony in the Rose Garden. As she stood on the dais alongside President Trump, she finally saw the fruit of her decades of hard work in the ...

Democracy

A Battle for the Soul of the Nation

A rising number of White House–related COVID cases exposes a presidency in collapse

October 8, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

All weeek, COVID-19 infections have continued to mount in the vicinity of the Oval Office. At least 34 people near Trump have tested positive for the virus in the past few days. The White House press corps is down to a skeleton crew as Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany and four ...

Literature

Elena Ferrante Returns to Naples

A new novel delights, but reveals decay

October 8, 2020 • by Daniel DiMassa

————— The four novels in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan saga were a literary sensation when they appeared between 2011 and 2015. Now she’s back with a new novel in seven parts, The Lying Life of Adults, with a translation by Ann Goldstein. Though no less compelling than her blockbuster series, the smaller ...

Education

Teaching Patriotism

Abraham Lincoln’s idea of America

October 8, 2020 • by Steven B. Smith

In the midst of a global pandemic and an economic crisis, President Donald Trump recently found time to convene a Committee on Patriotic Education. In principle this was not a bad idea. The great question of course is how will patriotism be taught, and who will be its teachers? Or, as Karl ...

Democracy

The Foiled Confederate Coup of 1861

An interview with historian Ted Widmer about his new book, “Lincoln on the Verge”

October 8, 2020 • by Claire Potter and Ted Widmer

_____ As Americans anxiously count down the days to November 3, 2020, President Donald Trump has been evasive about whether, should he lose, he would accept the results of the election. Commentators have rightly deplored this, arguing that the peaceful transfer of power has always been a cornerstone of American democracy. But ...

Democracy

A Political Paradox

Power, fallibility, and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment

October 7, 2020 • by Rebecca Lubot

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified on February 10, 1967, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination and a period of great anxiety about nuclear weapons. The first section deals with a vacancy in the presidency, the second section with a vacancy in the vice presidency. But it is Sections 3 ...

Past Present

The Proud Boys

Past Present Podcast, Episode 249

October 6, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: At last week’s presidential debate, President Trump drew attention to the all-male street gang, the Proud Boys, when he told them to “stand back and stand by.” Niki commented on the group’s founder, Gavin McInnes. Natalia discussed how the example ...

Politics

COVID-19 Snaps Donald Trump’s Spell

There’s no going back now

October 5, 2020 • by John Stoehr

But a presumption lurked behind the question: that Donald Trump would be shooting live ammunition. What if he was shooting harmless blanks, though? What if his victims were paid to pretend to be dead? What if the whole thing was staged so a “billionaire outsider” only looked like he could break the rules, deny consequences and get ...

North America

Malarkey!

As Donald Trump spins increasingly wild fantasies, the campaign tries to contain him and the Proud Boys stand by

October 1, 2020 • by Heather Cox Richardson

----- So, what was happening while we were distracted by Donald Trump’s shocking performance in the first presidential debate this week? First, the President's tax returns, publicized daily by the New York Times since last Sunday, have taken a back seat to his support for the white supremacist gang the Proud Boys and his ...

Capitalism

As New York City Rebuilds, Business Can Be Part of the Solution

Higher taxes are necessary, but who will have the political courage to make it happen?

October 1, 2020 • by Kim Phillips-Fein

Early in September, more than 160 executives from companies like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, the white-shoe corporate law firm Skadden Arps, and a host of real estate developers and financial firms sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio. They expressed their fear that “deteriorating conditions” in the city might slow ...

As New York City Rebuilds, Business Can Be Part of the Solution

Capitalism

Big Tech May Be Closer to Home Than You Know

How digital behemoths create economically vulnerable communities — and then prey on them

October 1, 2020 • by Pat Garofalo

----- In May, 2020, the city of Gallatin, Tennessee, voted to provide nearly $20 million in tax breaks to an entity called “Project Woolhawk” that proposed building a data center in the area. Local economic development officials refused to confirm who or what was behind that name, only that it was ...

Essays

Tense Times with Protesters in a Brooklyn Hot Zone

As New Yorkers brace for a second surge, Orthodox communities that resist public health directives, and the NYPD, lead the way

Amy Coney Barrett’s Fall from Grace

A Rose Garden superspreader event puts in doubt the Supreme Court nominee’s commitment to the right to life

A Battle for the Soul of the Nation

A rising number of White House–related COVID cases exposes a presidency in collapse

Elena Ferrante Returns to Naples

A new novel delights, but reveals decay

Teaching Patriotism

Abraham Lincoln’s idea of America

The Foiled Confederate Coup of 1861

An interview with historian Ted Widmer about his new book, “Lincoln on the Verge”

A Political Paradox

Power, fallibility, and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment

The Proud Boys

Past Present Podcast, Episode 249

COVID-19 Snaps Donald Trump’s Spell

There’s no going back now

Malarkey!

As Donald Trump spins increasingly wild fantasies, the campaign tries to contain him and the Proud Boys stand by

As New York City Rebuilds, Business Can Be Part of the Solution

Higher taxes are necessary, but who will have the political courage to make it happen?

Big Tech May Be Closer to Home Than You Know

How digital behemoths create economically vulnerable communities — and then prey on them

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