Books and Ideas

Charles Dickens and the Ghosts of Christmas Present

Charles Dickens and the Ghosts of Christmas Present Charles Dickens and the Ghosts of Christmas Present

Our duty as citizens and humans does not end with an electoral disappointment. It begins.

Dec 24, 2016 / John Nichols

Polanyi In Our Times

Polanyi In Our Times Polanyi In Our Times

What the Austro-Hungarian economic theorist tells us about the upheavals of our age.

Dec 22, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Nikil Saval

Emmett Till

Why Are We Still Reliving the Nightmarish Death of Emmett Till? Why Are We Still Reliving the Nightmarish Death of Emmett Till?

When I went to Mississippi to cover the trial, I had no idea that the story would become so relevant again more than 60 years later.

Dec 19, 2016 / Dan Wakefield

Emmett Till Trial

Land of the Free? This Firsthand Report From the Emmett Till Murder Trial Is Chilling to Read Today Land of the Free? This Firsthand Report From the Emmett Till Murder Trial Is Chilling to Read Today

“The crowds are gone and this Delta town is back to its silent, solid life that is based on cotton and the proposition that a whole race of men was created to pick it.”

Dec 19, 2016 / Dan Wakefield

Obama Was Not an Economic Radical. Trump Will Be.

Obama Was Not an Economic Radical. Trump Will Be. Obama Was Not an Economic Radical. Trump Will Be.

President Obama’s economic reforms were modest—but they’re definitely worth fighting for.

Dec 15, 2016 / Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal

Hunter S. Thompson

This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson. This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson.

In Hell’s Angels, the gonzo journalist wrote about left-behind people motivated only by “an ethic of total retaliation.” Sound familiar?

Dec 15, 2016 / Feature / Susan McWilliams

Obama 2008

How Will History Judge Barack Obama? How Will History Judge Barack Obama?

The president succeeded in repairing our institutions—but millions of Americans wanted to blow them up instead.

Dec 15, 2016 / Chris Hayes

American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In

American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In American Radicals and the Change We Could Believe In

The Obama era reminded us all that popular movements play an essential role as catalysts for political action.

Dec 14, 2016 / Feature / Eric Foner

Harvard University

Trumpism Poses the Most Dire Threat to Academic Freedom in Recent Memory Trumpism Poses the Most Dire Threat to Academic Freedom in Recent Memory

A shadowy new Professor Watchlist has revived the McCarthyite hysteria of the 1950s. We must fight back.

Dec 13, 2016 / Erik Loomis

Which Way Does the Arc of Obama’s Moral Universe Bend?

Which Way Does the Arc of Obama’s Moral Universe Bend? Which Way Does the Arc of Obama’s Moral Universe Bend?

Liberals once thought Obama would transcend race—but even his moderate views ended up provoking a whitelash.

Dec 13, 2016 / Feature / Joan Walsh

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