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The Renminbi’s Rollercoaster  

As China’s economic prospects darken, headlines worldwide accuse China’s leaders of threatening global capitalism. Once upon a time, that was precisely the point.









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Pulp Nonfiction  

“Zippy” creator Bill Griffith’s new book Invisible Ink is a curious masterpiece, merging the real-life personal saga of his mother with the story of the forgotten pulps.





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Ireland’s Battle for Abortion Rights  

Last May, Ireland made history by becoming the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. Will abortion rights—the final stronghold of Catholic morality in the island nation—be next?



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Ferguson Digs In Its Heels  

The city of Ferguson has reneged on its promises to reform policing practices. Its current standoff with the Justice Department reveals the stubbornness of a municipal system that combines handouts to big corporations with predatory fines for the poor.







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Who Owns the GOP?  

Jane Mayer’s Dark Money is a magisterial portrait of the right-wing billionaires who have “weaponized” conservative philanthropy and pulled the GOP ever further right. Yet Mayer’s account fails to explain something just as alarming: the far-right surge from the grassroots.



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Donald Trump, Pirate King  

Unlike his chief rival Ted Cruz, Donald Trump dismisses the high-church liturgy of American politics in favor of blunt tribalism. In Trump’s America, no one is looking out for you.







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Beyond the Polluters  

Bernie Sanders’s climate plan offers a welcome alternative to the vagueness of the Paris Agreement. But to win over a broader public, a leftist climate agenda will require a vision of a “just transition” that goes beyond our energy system.