The history of swearing is more than just an evolution of social mores — it’s also a politically charged narrative at the “intersection of anger and gaiety.”
politics
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Finding the Limit of a Nation of Laws: Integrity, or the Lack Thereof
This David Frum piece in The Atlantic is a roadmap to Trump’s likeliest path to authoritarianism and self-enrichment — and therefore also a guide to what Americans of conscience need to do to protect democracy.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Life in a Post-Soviet Melting Pot
Journalist and illustrator Lomasko was first noticed in the West for her graphic reportage from the Pussy Riot trial. In Tbilisi, Georgia, she spoke with historians, artists, journalists, activists, squatters, and local clergy about the political and cultural climate in this former Soviet republic.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Trump Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself
A German magazine reports that a shadowy analytics company with a powerful new tool is swaying elections around the world in favor of hard-right nationalist candidates. The tool, which, according to one study, shows that marketers “can attract up to 63% more clicks and up to 1400% more conversions” on Facebook, works by micro-targeting individuals […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
In Tbilisi
An excerpt from “A Trip to Tbilisi,” a 2015 work of graphic reportage from journalist, activist, and artist Victoria Lomasko’s visit to the Georgian capital. Her work, drawn live on the scene, focuses on figures on the fringes: migrants, the LGBT community, juvenile prison inmates, sex workers.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The United States of America: A Country of Contradictions
Conservative political commentator Andrew Sullivan recently became a United States citizen. In New York magazine, Sullivan reflects on how he learned to embrace the U.S.’s flaws and virtues as he watched the country go through social and political shifts over the last three decades.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
President Trump, Three Days On: The Sound and the Fury
This story in the Washington Post — based on interviews with almost a dozen senior White House officials and and Trump advisors — paints a picture of an uneasy administration trying to stay in orbit around its hyper-sensitive leader and his insider cabal.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Mike Pence Came Back from the Dead
On the vice president’s unlikely journey from unpopular, ultra-conservative governor to second-in-command to Donald Trump.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Happens After Standing Rock?
Tay Wiles reports on how the Dakota Access Pipeline protests have spread greater understanding of environmental issues among Natives and non-Natives alike, and how they’ve inspired a new generation of protesters who are collaborating to raise awareness of and oppose other projects that impact Indigenous people, their rights, and their land.
Posted inEditor's Pick
America Is Still the Future
Sullivan reflects back on his time as a foreigner in the U.S. and how he learned to embrace the country’s flaws and virtues during his journey of becoming a citizen.