Stop Calling the United States a Banana Republic
“But looking at the history behind the term reveals something else: ‘banana republics’ like Honduras and Guatemala were troubled in no small part because American capitalism and imperialism wanted them that way.”
Madam Prescient: Raising the Spirit of American Radicalism
Victoria Woodhull, a former prostitute, free-love advocate, and clairvoyant (and proponent of abolition, marriage reform, and education rights) ran for President of the US — in 1872.
Fear of a Feminist Future
Laurie Penny—whose feminist dystopian novel Everything Belongs to the Future was released this week—considers the alt right’s fear of women heroes in futuristic literature and film, not to mention real life.
Cable News Charnel
Why do US news outlets air graphic clips of ISIS violence, or even ISIS propaganda videos? And what are the forces driving the news’ focus on civil violence within American borders? An essay on the ways media looks out for itself.
Mind Your Own Business
Mindfullness apps: is there actually any benefit to this kind of bite-sized meditation. And what, exactly, are we trying to be mindful of?
Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless
How wellness and self-care turned into a sinister (and expensive) ideology.
The Rest is Advertising: Confessions of a Sponsored Content Writer
“As journalists imitate advertisers and advertisers imitate (and hire) journalists, they are converging on a shared style and sensibility.” Dispatches from the front lines of sponsored content.
Memoirs of a Revolutionary’s Daughter
A daughter’s story of her father’s arrest, imprisonment, and execution after Iran’s revolution.
There Goes the Neighborhood
Obama, Chicago, and the politics of presidential libraries.
VCs Take the Media
How media startups went searching for venture capital funding normally reserved for tech companies.