The smell of a body that has been left to rot is one that you never forget. It is foul and cloying and horrifically sweet; one of those scents that seems sticky, to cling to your nose and your clothes so that you catch wisps of it long after you …
Read More »In Texas, Team AOC Seeks the Wins It Badly Needs
SAN ANTONIO — The admirers who packed into a music venue to see Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) earlier this month arrived in the trappings of her movement. There were dozens of shirts bearing her likeness and as many tote bags touting the Green New Deal. Many wore masks registering contempt …
Read More »Could Prayer Make People Take Climate Change Seriously?
The private jets have departed from Glasgow, shuttling their VIP passengers home from the annual UN Climate Summit (COP26) on thousands of gallons of jet fuel. Now, the diplomats hunker down in Scotland’s capital of industry, parsing through the promises made and seeing what might stick, while the rest of …
Read More »Fereshta Kazemi's Escape From Kabul
O n the morning of August 13th, Afghan-American actress and filmmaker Fereshta Kazemi was in her production office in Kabul, working on the trailer for her upcoming film, when she saw “Kandahar” trending on Twitter. The Taliban had just taken Afghanistan‘s second-largest city, she learned; two more cities would fall …
Read More »Keisha Lance Bottoms Has Had a YEAR
The past year of Keisha Lance Bottoms’ life has been, to borrow one of the Atlanta mayor’s favorite euphemisms, interesting. When she’s got nothing nice to say about a situation, Bottoms, diplomatic Southerner that she is, reaches for this damningly anodyne descriptor. It’s all in the delivery. Consider, for example, …
Read More »Donald Trump, Drug Warrior: How the President Slowed Cannabis Progress
When it comes to cannabis, it’s hard to say just what a Trump presidency has meant to the industry. It’s not as clear-cut as his record on, say, immigration, LGBTQ rights, the environment, or public health. But one thing is certain: As president, he’s made it pretty damn hard for …
Read More »Big Pharma's Covid-19 Profiteers
On June 29th, 2020, while America remained transfixed by anti-police protests, the chairman and CEO of the pharmaceutical company Gilead issued a much-anticipated announcement. In a breezy open letter, Daniel O’Day explained how much his company planned on charging for a course of remdesivir, one of many possible treatments for …
Read More »What It's Like to Work for Instacart During the Coronavirus Pandemic
On March 16th, Laura Richey dropped off her last Instacart order of the day before heading home with a scratchy throat — the sort of thing she assumed would dissipate with a few days of rest, before getting back to the suite of gig jobs she’s combined to make a …
Read More »Why the World Health Organization's Response to COVID-19 Is Crucial to the Future of Public Health
It’s usually not a good sign for humanity when the World Health Organization is in the news. There may not be a better indicator of how 2020 is shaping up than the weeks-long flurry of headlines featuring the U.N. agency tasked with coordinating the global response to infectious disease outbreaks. …
Read More »An Honest Conversation with a Real Progressive Who Supports Mike Bloomberg
Michael Huttner has spent decades in the trenches of progressive politics. In the mid-2000s, he co-founded ProgressNow, a network of state-level liberal communications hubs that has 23 chapters and 4 million members and acts as a counterweight to right-wing think tanks and activist groups. In 2010, he organized one of …
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