President George Bush wanted to show America what crack cocaine looked like at his first Oval Office address on Sept 5, 1989. He wanted to show you could even buy crack in front of the White House. That’s how bad the crisis had gotten. That’s how Bush announced his War on Drugs. But there wasn’t much crack sold near the White House. Easy solution: invite someone to sell crack outside the White House!
Facing a slate of economic problems in 2010, President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina implemented a rule that companies who wished to sell their products in the country had to make those products in the country. What resulted was a cautionary tale in an age of rising economic isolationism.
This deep analysis by Nick Hanauer at Democracy: A Journal of Ideas lays out - with welcomed and much needed clarity - the history of the minimum wage and why raising it today isn't simply an option, but an absolute necessity for those who wish to achieve a more robust and resilient economy.
Jelani Cobb argues that white America's obsessive maintenance of a vision of the past free of racism and slavery hampers our collective ability to recognize and respond to the present.
Experts worry that President Trump's fondness for bombast and notable disdain for subtlety will put an end to decades of quiet foreign policy successes.
If this country is ever to right itself and achieve its stated promise, truth will remain the most important pursuit - and James Baldwin knew truth.
This video essay by YouTuber Will Schoder considers the damage that postmodernism has had on our culture and what the end of it means for media, politics, and our society at large.
This video essay looks at the incredibly successful ways in which the Nazi Party engaged in propaganda; so successful that our modern perception of the Nazi Party is exactly how they wanted the world to think of and remember them. It makes incisive use of several examples across mainstream literature, television and movies to draw a parallel between Nazi propaganda during World War II and modern political and governmental propaganda.
Many say that implementing the Universal Basic Income would be bad policy. There's just one problem with that critique - it already exists, and the rich are the ones who benefit.
The Trump administration has floated the idea of either privatizing or cutting cultural programs like PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts from the budget, proposing that they cost too much and are an opportunity to realize significant savings. That argument couldn't be further from the truth and this excellent video shows why.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has spent years squaring off against Donald Trump. Now, he's one of the few officials left with the ability to limit the President's efforts.
This is the unbelievable true story of Paul Leroux, a former computer programmer turned international criminal mastermind. Le Roux built a cartel that peddled in prescription drugs, weapons, narcotics, money laundering, and murder.
Senior reporter Shane Bauer spent four months undercover as a guard in a private prison to uncover the horrifying realities that are all too common in the American prison system.
Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would dooms families across the country to bankruptcy as coverage limits would be reimposed by insurance companies.
London-based economist Tim Harford provides a more complete view of the "Brexit" vote, in which the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. While much of the attention in the United States didn't begin until a week before the vote, Harford is able to provide insight into the history and politics leading up to the historic decision, taking much more into consideration than many other pieces have.
NY Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi discusses the rise and operation of ISIS in this interview with the Longform podcast. While many of the mainstream conversations around the terrorist organization promote the usual tropes and themes pushed by a 24-esque view of the world, Callimachi touches on important foundational truths regarding members, adherents, and the trappings of building a de facto bureaucracy founded on violence.
The Uncertain Hour tackles the topics that people argue over the most but know the least about. The first season investigates how states spend welfare funds - only a quarter goes to poor families while the rest is spent on things that are questionable at best and infuriating at worst. This is a very illuminating podcast for anyone, and especially so for those who work in social services, public policy, advocacy, and government.
