Race
The Other Toni Morrison
A timely new documentary celebrates Morrison’s novels but downplays the enduring power of her work as an editor and essayist.
Is There a Human Blueprint?
A revival of the “nature vs. nurture” debate about what makes people different from one another.
Solid Trumpism
Trump’s secret to success is that he expresses his base’s deep sense of alienation and grievance—cultural and social far more than economic.
How Wall Street Colonized the Caribbean
The expansion of banks such as Citigroup into Cuba, Haiti, and beyond reveal a story of capitalism built on blood, labor, and racial lines.
Race in Black and White
Slavery and the Civil War were central to the development of photography as both a technology and an art.
Black Resistance in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
In Revilletown, which was founded by freed slaves, a petrochemical company has seized ownership of an ancestral cemetery. But an attack on the dead is an attack on the living.
How Cars Transformed Policing
Before the mass adoption of the car, most communities barely had a police force and citizens shared responsibility for enforcing laws.
The Sins of “Smart” Cities
What happens when we reframe complex social and political issues as technical puzzles? Two new books challenge modern cities' over-reliance on data and technology.
The Pacifist Roots of an American Nazi
Ingrid Rimland was a pioneering voice of the neo-Nazi Internet. She was also raised Mennonite, a peaceful religion with a long history of celebrating white “ethnic” identity.
Speaking the Truth
Cornel West and Deborah Chasman discuss the disproportionately white publishing world, the responsibilities and burdens of public life, and the predicament of black intellectuals today.
Aretha Franklin’s Soul
Amazing Grace, the long-lost film of Franklin’s gospel album, offers a lesson in the deep connections between gospel and soul music.
How Race Made the Opioid Crisis
The fundamental division between “dope” and medicine has always turned on racial and economic difference.
From the Editors: Racist Logic
By examining the opioid crisis alongside the War on Drugs Murch brings an otherwise familiar story into new territory.
What Anti-Semitism Is—And What It Is Not
Two Jewish activists discuss the place of anti-Semitism in contemporary movements for social justice.
When Jamaica Led the Postcolonial Fight Against Exploitation
How the New International Economic Order of the 1970s is inspiring a new generation of struggle against global inequality.
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