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.”

Source: The Baffler
Published: Nov 7, 2016
Length: 8 minutes (2,206 words)

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.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Aug 15, 2016
Length: 12 minutes (3,108 words)

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.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Oct 17, 2016
Length: 11 minutes (2,797 words)

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.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Jul 1, 2015
Length: 20 minutes (5,155 words)

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?

Source: The Baffler
Published: May 1, 2015
Length: 9 minutes (2,294 words)

Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless

How wellness and self-care turned into a sinister (and expensive) ideology.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Jul 8, 2016
Length: 9 minutes (2,433 words)

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.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Mar 1, 2016
Length: 19 minutes (4,872 words)

Memoirs of a Revolutionary’s Daughter

A daughter’s story of her father’s arrest, imprisonment, and execution after Iran’s revolution.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Nov 16, 2015
Length: 23 minutes (5,866 words)

There Goes the Neighborhood

Obama, Chicago, and the politics of presidential libraries.

Source: The Baffler
Published: Jul 27, 2015
Length: 28 minutes (7,197 words)

VCs Take the Media

How media startups went searching for venture capital funding normally reserved for tech companies.

Source: The Baffler
Published: May 19, 2015
Length: 18 minutes (4,677 words)