The past is present
"Meeting Across the River" routinely lands last when fans rank their Born to Run favorites. But its noir mood was where the country was heading in the mid-1970s.
As the Trump administration calls for the return of domestic manufacturing, there is one industry that managed to resist the outsourcing process of the late 20th century. It only required the destruction of its labor unions.
In 1995, Democrats held up a Big Bird doll to laud the importance of children’s television and save public broadcast funding. This strategy does not seem likely to work in 2025.
The first 100 days of President Trump's second term marks a departure from established US foreign policy, focusing on dismantling international aid and agreements. His administration’s actions, including cuts to USAID and skepticism toward NATO, jeopardize global partnerships. Trump's approach favors unilateralism and transactional relations over multilateral cooperation, risking America's leadership and security in an increasingly authoritarian world.
Trump has floated the idea of creating a new category of (im)migrant worker to deal with the labor shortages caused by his own deportation program. This type of program has a long history in the United States. What Trump is proposing is a rerun of an old policy that attempts to codify white supremacy by solidifying Anglos at the top of society with a permanent (im)migrant underclass to make the economy hum for the benefit of the wealthy.
While the realities of 2025 are in some ways unprecedented, Americans have felt this way before. The history of the late 1960s–early 1970s—assassinations, the Vietnam War, the Nixon presidency—reminds us that previous generations pushed back against what felt like insurmountable challenges.
What is decoloniality, decolonization, colonialism, postcolonialism, and coloniality? Why is it important to learn about it now? This piece outlines five recommended texts on decolonization/decoloniality with summaries as a starting point for anyone intending to learn more.
The next chair of the Democratic National Committee will likely come from the Upper Midwest. To understand the politics of that region, we need to better appreciate the tradition of progressive, populist politics from Democrats in the Midwest.
Chapter 1 of Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga was a box office failure, but the cowboy masculinity it portrays helps to explain Trump’s victory.
If America’s greatness is its love of freedom, who held the firehoses in Birmingham? Who wielded clubs on Edmund Pettus Bridge?
Clio and the Contemporary 