Archive Image

In Defense of Civility  

The danger of Trump is that he is completely removing the norms of public discourse—the same norms that have served to hold in check those unwilling to see their society transformed by greater equality and liberty.





Archive Image

Asking About Abortion  

While Hillary Clinton’s and Bernie Sander’s positions and voting records on abortion may be similar, Clinton has engaged more proactively with the issue, even if not always perfectly.





Archive Image

The Next Majority  

No matter who becomes the Democrats’ nominee, Bernie Sanders’s campaign marks a sea change within the Democratic Party.





Archive Image

Sanders and the S Word  

Why does the white-haired firebrand from Vermont insist on identifying himself with socialism, a political faith that has never been popular in the United States?







Archive Image

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.



Archive Image

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.



Archive Image

Trumping History  

The Trump phenomenon is best understood as an amalgam of three different, largely pathological strains in American history and culture.