History
Thomas Piketty Takes On the Ideology of Inequality
Inequality, he shows, is not our destiny; it is our choice.
Impeaching for Imperialism
Beneath Trump’s impeachment lurks a troubling complacency—among Democrats and Republicans alike—with the nature of U.S. imperial power.
The Private History of Ethiopia’s Wars
Maaza Mengiste’s novels reject grand narratives, offering uncommonly intimate glimpses of dictatorship and displacement.
The Hidden Stakes of the 1619 Controversy
Critics obscure a longstanding debate within the field of U.S. history over the implications of the American Revolution.
Black Abolitionists Believed in Taking Up Arms
Long before the Civil War, black abolitionists shared the consensus that violence would be necessary to end slavery.
Walks in the Park: On the Foreignness of the Socialist Past
December 22 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the overthrow of the Romanian socialist state of Nicolae Ceaușescu. In a work of memoir, Nachescu recalls growing up under communism and wonders about the world Romanians hoped would follow its fall.
Atone—But Not Because It Will Save Democracy
Germany’s official policy of shame about its past is a model the United States should adopt. But it won’t protect either country from far-right extremism.
How Not to Do Activism
The calculus of power isn’t defined by hits or clicks or tweets. It is measured in relationships and meaningful reactions over time.
Against Black Homeownership
The real estate market is so structured by race that Black families will never come out ahead.
The Long History of Debt Cancellation
Moral thinking about debt has fluctuated throughout U.S. history. Today’s calls for cancellation suggest it may be poised for transformation once again.
Zero Hour: The First Days of New Berlin
Thirty years after the Wall fell, the story of Berlin’s anarchist utopia.
Politics Is for Power, Not Consumption
Political hobbyism takes well-meaning citizens away from pursuing power.
The Greensboro Massacre at 40
On November 3, 1979, members of the KKK and American Nazi Party murdered five labor organizers in broad daylight. Forty years later, massacre survivor Rosalyn Pelles talks about that day, and why organized workers are such a threat to the powerful.
It Was Not Supposed to End This Way
The Anthropocene challenges liberalism’s vision of permanent progress. So why has it become another technocratic tool of liberal bureaucracy?
How Democrats Gave Up on Big Government
Embracing Reaganite talking points well before Reagan, liberals themselves turned away from the New Deal vision.
Black Masculinity Under Racial Capitalism
A truly radical counterhegemony can only be realized by disassociating both blackness and manhood from capitalist registers of worth.
Get our newsletter
Vital reading on politics, ideas, and culture to your inbox
A political and literary forum, independent and nonprofit since 1975
Registered 501(c)(3) organization
Help Us Stay Paywall-Free
Become a Member