Down and Out in the Gig Economy
In 2009, in the paranoid middle days of the recession, I enacted a boomerang-child stereotype: I moved back home into my parents’ basement. Raised in privilege (son of lawyers, private schools, no...
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Writing for the End Times
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.” So reads the opening verse in the Gospel of John—the fourth, deviant gospel—which was probably composed 70 years after the crucifixion of...
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Mighty Mouth
On the morning of July 24, Senator Joseph Biden, his face contorted with rage, stared out from the pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers. At a Senate Foreign Relations...
View ArticleThe Cost of Doing Nothing About Global Warming
Ninety-three trillion dollars is a lot of money. It’s more than the entire globe’s gross domestic product.It is also, if you ask many Republicans, how much the Green New Deal would cost over the course...
View ArticleDemocrats Must Make an Example of Bill Barr
The Democrats almost got this right. On Wednesday, they shredded what little credibility Bill Barr had left during a five-hour hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee that, at times, bordered on...
View ArticlePower Plays in the Anti-Semitic Blame Game
Last month’s shooting at the Chabad of Poway, a California synagogue in a suburb about 20 miles north of San Diego, killed one woman and injured three others. Before picking up his assault-style rifle,...
View ArticleWaiting for Peak Trump
There’s a certain rhythm to Donald Trump’s presidency over the past two years. First he does something even more egregious than usual, like defend violent white nationalists or side with Russian...
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The Emptiness of Adam Gopnik’s Liberalism
When I heard last year that Adam Gopnik was writing a “stirring defense of liberalism” titled A Thousand Small Sanities, I had many questions. How would he turn liberalism into a story about his kids...
View ArticleWhat’s Really Behind Greece’s Demand for World War Two Reparations?
In April, Greece’s parliament voted to try to claim reparations from Germany for World War One and World War Two. This is not the first time Greece has explored the idea, which became popular during...
View ArticleGame of Thrones: Another One Bites the Dust
Each Monday, members of The New Republic staff will discuss the latest episode of Game of Thrones, now in its eight and final season. Join Josephine Livingstone, Alex Shephard, and Ryu Spaeth as they...
View ArticleWhat Happens to Hurricane Victims When Congress Can’t Function?
Greg Brudnicki usually spends his work week in Panama City, Florida, where he’s the mayor. But last week, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to ask Congress for help, because the city he’s in charge of...
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Amy Hempel’s Powerful Brevity
In “The Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried,” Amy Hempel’s first and most anthologized story, the narrator fails her terminally ill best friend, almost entirely in subtext. She visits the beachside...
View ArticleThe Ignoble Afterlife of the Trump Staffer
Is there life after President Donald Trump? Former members of his administration are struggling to find out. The president is burning through subordinates at a far greater clip than any other recent...
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The Price of Meat
When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats launched the Green New Deal in February, its enemies had a cow. The policies proposed would not just regulate beef production, Donald Trump complained...
View ArticleThe Unintended Consequences of Trump’s Trade War
The Trump administration’s year-long quest to reform China’s economic policy has seemed to be motivated by an America First mentality. “Tariffs are working far better than anyone ever anticipated,” the...
View ArticleDemocrats Need an Anti-Austerity Message
It’s a simple truth: Republicans explode the deficit when they’re in power. But, as soon as they’re out of power, they demand austerity—while painting Democrats as wasteful socialists who trade...
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The Inevitable Emptiness of the 2019 Met Gala
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual fundraising gala this year was themed “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” It occasioned much exhausting handwringing among the commentariat, who couldn’t help but note...
View ArticleThe Fox & Friends Pardon for War Crimes
When President Donald Trump exercises his power to pardon federal crimes, it’s usually to send a message. Last March, in an implicit jab at Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information, he...
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Going Under at the Playboy Club
Almost exactly 56 years ago, Gloria Steinem published an investigative tell-all in Show magazine titled “A Bunny’s Tale.” She had applied for a job as a Playboy Bunny under the name Marie Catherine...
View ArticleThe Republicans Are Dead to Planet Earth
When the Green New Deal started to gain steam with voters across the political spectrum last year, the Republicans faced a choice. They could counter Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s plan with...
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