The Right Terror Threatens Us All

A Call to Uncover Right Extremist Networks In Germany

The murder, on Yom Kippur (October 10th, 2019), of two German citizens in Halle, one outside the synagogue that was the perpetrator’s initial target and another by a nearby Döner bistro, echoed other terror attacks on minorities. These are always described in the German media as acts of an individual ...
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The View from Europe

And it ain’t good

It’s refreshing to spend time in a place where everyone isn’t obsessed with the Occupant of the White House, but it’s also now strange to be in Berlin, a place where the United States was once so relevant -- and is now so irrelevant. A colleague from Croatia told me kindly that America ...
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Damage Done

The Trump–Ukraine controversy in perspective

‘It’s all for the best’ I used to tell myself whenever the situation in Ukraine became critical. That was before the release of the transcript of the conversation on 25 July between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. How could this be ‘for the best’? Obviously, Ukraine cannot ...
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The Theater of Impeachment

An interview with Brenda Wineapple

BW: That’s a lot of questions! I had to have a sense of what the story was in order for the narrative could take shape. The entire book took six years to research and to write, but the story came to me after about two years into the research. In other ...
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Elijah Cummings, Homelessness, and Amusement Parks

Episode 202

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings has died. Niki referenced this Atlantic article about Cummings’ reluctant partisanship.Homelessness is on the rise, especially visible in Los Angeles. Natalia referred to this Washington Post article about the rise of “business improvement districts” and to ...
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“This is Our Campaign”

What The Bernie Sanders Campaign Means For Racial Justice

Before a sold-out audience of about 200 attendees of a broad spectrum of age, race, and background, and over 10,000 viewers watching online by livestream, these three black women attempted to clarify why Bernie Sanders -- the 78-year-old white man who has served for nearly three decades as a national ...
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How Poland Ruined its 1989

A liberal democratic dream too good to be true

The first half of 1989 in Poland was amazing -- delivering early and decisive blows to the Berlin wall, which fell later that year. From February to April 4th, the representatives of the Polish government negotiated with the Solidarity oppositional groups; in June, in partially free elections, the communist government ...
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Conflicting Claims

Race, Capitalism & the Current Crisis: Conundrums for Those Who Envisage a Socialist Future

The multiple capitalist crises the U.S. faces today are a result both of the inherent contradictions found within a capitalist social order, and from frictions and contradictions arising out of its articulation with two other systems of domination -- those of patriarchy and white supremacy. These crises have generated extreme ...
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Simple Is Sometimes Simplistic, and Stupid

Is it Really Smart to Narrow the Impeachment?

A focused impeachment that builds public support is surely a good thing; I’ve been arguing this for the past six months. But it seems extremely foolish to believe that focus can only be achieved through a narrowing of vision, and it seems worse than foolish to believe that Trump’s other abuses of power ...
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Automation, Male Baldness, and Paula White

Episode 201

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Automation and its effect on American jobs was a core theme at this month’s Democratic debate. Natalia referred to Rick Wartzman’s book The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, excerpted in POLITICO. Natalia also referenced this timeline chronicling fears of automation, at Medium.A ...
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Keeping the Left Alive: Michael Walzer’s Political Action Reissued

If any book can help left-wing activists figure out how not to burn out, this is probably it

That hopeful and interesting work is the subject of Walzer’s book Political Action: A Practical Guide to Movement Politics. Originally published in the spring of 1971 and reissued this year by New York Review Books, Political Action is in a genre by itself. Like an organizing manual but more thoughtful and suggestive, like ...
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Why Did Trump Let Erdogan Go?

The Turkish Invasion of Syria and the Global Alliance among Authoritarian Leaders

Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey, which is likely Trump’s way of both appeasing the opposition in the GOP and indirectly supporting Erdogan, as, in their current scope, the sanctions were not an effective instrument to deter Erdogan from going further. Furthermore, Trump accused Kurds of releasing the ISIS-related prisoners, while there is strong evidence ...
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