How the Failure of Our Foreign Wars Fueled Nativist Fanaticism

For nearly two centuries, US politicians have channeled extremism outward. But the frontier is gone, the empire is faltering, and the chickens are coming home to roost.

Greg Grandin

A Tale of Two Cities in the Grips of the Opioid Crisis

Vancouver and Philadelphia are both facing overdose epidemics—but one city has found a way to keep people alive.

Maia Szalavitz

Elizabeth Warren Is Not Afraid of the Democrats

The 2020 presidential candidate has a long track record of opposing lobbyists, billionaires, the Republicans—and her own party.

George Zornick

I’m an 18-Year-Old Gun-Reform Activist and School-Shooting Survivor—Here’s Why I Still Have Hope

We’re not doing this because we want to. We’re doing it because we have to.

Mollie Davis

The Claustrophobic World of Anna Burns’s ‘Milkman’

Her Man Booker–winning novel offers a haunting look at daily life during The Troubles.

Erin Schwartz

The Southern Paradox: The Democratic Party Below the Mason-Dixon Line

Why and how the region switched from being the stronghold of one party to the base of its adversary.

Michael Kazin

Tana French’s Crime-Fiction Masterpiece

The Witch Elm is a triumph of the genre.

J. Robert Lennon

Grey Wolf, Grizzly Bear, White-Tailed Deer

Jenny Browne

Earl Sweatshirt’s Relentless Introspection

On Some Rap Songs, Earl excavates hard truths about himself and his heritage, and the results are dazzling and gut-wrenching. 

Stephen Kearse