Trump’s Extreme (and Extremely Boring) U.S. Tour
Donald Trump thinks he’s a rock star. Touring the country in support of Republican candidates, the president puffed out his chest and bragged about his ability to draw a crowd. “Do you know how many...
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A Cut Above
Diane Williams seeks to stun, in something near the literal sense of the word. Acts of accidental violence bookend her story “The Nature of the Miracle,” which is only four paragraphs long. A bottle of...
View ArticleSheldon Whitehouse’s Frustrating, Illogical Remarks on D.C. Statehood
Donald Trump’s presidency has sparked a rolling national discussion about the long-term vitality of America’s democratic system. Democrats are more than happy to talk about how his rise to power...
View ArticleThe BBC’s Best Drama in Years Comes to Netflix
On a visit to the U.K. this September I found a nation gripped by a BBC series called Bodyguard. But I had to fly back to New York, livid and thwarted, before the final episode aired. Thankfully, the...
View ArticleIs the Democratic Party Progressive Enough for Muslims?
The relationship between American Muslims and the Democratic Party is often described as a marriage of convenience. One of the best illustrations of this was the appearance of Khizr and Ghazala Khan at...
View ArticleThe Moral Dilemma of Jamal Khashoggi’s Killing
In 1919, famed German theorist Max Weber gave a lecture to a group of idealistic left-wing students in Munich. It was a time of political shifts: Germany had lost the First World War, and revolution...
View ArticleYes, Trump Is Culpable
“Bring the war home.”That’s what protesters at the University of Wisconsin chanted in early 1970, denouncing defense-related research at the school during the Vietnam War. Later that summer, four men...
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The Promise of Polarization
How divided have Americans become? When it comes to the two-party war, the differences could not be starker. Pew Research Center has reported that 55 percent of Democrats are “afraid” of the Republican...
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Are Hurricanes Changing How We Talk?
Linguists have figured out a lot about the many different regional dialects of American English. They know why Brooklynites say “cawfee,” for example, and why Bostonians say “Hahvahd Yahd.” They’ve...
View ArticleAmerica’s First ‘Fake News’ Crisis
Several prominent conservatives initially responded to a wave of mail bombs sent to President Donald Trump’s critics last week with literal disbelief. “Fake bombs, fake news,” Lou Dobbs, a Fox Business...
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If Trump Fires Mueller
Here’s what the post-midterms world might look like: Democrats control the House by a decent margin. But they pick up just one seat in the Senate, allowing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to exploit...
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When Prosecuting Far-Right Violence Fails
With the room twisting and her vision cloudy, Eleftheria Tombatzoglou touched her hand to the back of her head. It came away covered in sticky blood. “Blood, honor, Golden Dawn,” she heard her...
View ArticleThe Climate Is Doomed Without Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right nationalist who on Sunday was elected Brazil’s new president, has been called the “Brazilian Trump.” But he’s more extreme than that. His rhetoric is more explicitly...
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In Elevation, Stephen King Lightens His Touch
Stephen King’s newest novel, Elevation, is perhaps the most uplifting of his career. It’s so short—wafer-thin, melt-in-the-mouth—that you might call it a novella, or even a story. Its protagonist is,...
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The Two Kinds of American Carnage
President Donald Trump announced on Monday he would send 5,200 military troops to the southern border as a means of discouraging the 3,500-person migrant caravan inching its way toward the U.S. from...
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An Illogical Reason Not to Vote
The midterm elections next week could be the most consequential in modern U.S. history. But a staggering number of young people aren’t planning to vote in them. To figure out why, New York magazine...
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Trump’s Closing Argument to Voters: Fascism
It’s less than a week until Election Day, and Donald Trump is scared. Most polls indicate that Democrats are poised to retake the House of Representatives. From there, they’ll be able to unleash a wave...
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The GOP’s Sneakiest Voter Suppression Tactic
With Election Day approaching, an odd little story from Dodge City, Kansas, made headlines in The New York Times and The Washington Post last week. Local elections officials in the Wild West outpost of...
View ArticleThe Final Girl Is All Grown Up
Halloween is a porous time for the American household. Children you’ve never met come all the way up to your door and expect you to open it. You might go to a costume party yourself, slipping into...
View ArticleHow Netflix Made The Haunting of Hill House Less Scary
In an early scene of Shirley Jackson’s bone-chilling 1959 gothic novel, The Haunting of Hill House, a young woman named Eleanor Vance drives through tall trees. She is on her way to a menacing mansion,...
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