Bipartisanship Won’t Save Us
In a rare public statement on Saturday, former President George W. Bush urged Americans to come together in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “Let us remember how small our differences are in the...
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At Long Last, the “Queen of Folk” Gets Her Biography
On the night of May 30, 1964, the Alabama-born singer Odetta watched a thunderstorm explode over Brussels from her room at the Amigo hotel. She was on her first European tour, promoting her twelfth...
View ArticleThe Placekicker With the Far-Right Tattoo
Justin Rohrwasser, a placekicker who played at Marshall University and the University of Rhode Island, was such an obscure prospect by the standards of the National Football League that ESPN didn’t...
View ArticleThe Rise of the All-Seeing Boss
I’m working from home while writing this. Maybe you’re working from home while reading this. For the workers in this country lucky enough to have jobs that don’t require a commute or in-person contact...
View ArticleThe Jared Kushner of the Federal Judiciary
The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on Wednesday since March, and the coronavirus pandemic made it a surreal affair. Senators in the chamber spaced themselves far apart from one...
View ArticleBillionaires Are Eating the Economy
Earlier this week, public health researchers projected that one in four Americans would experience hunger and food insecurity in the coming months as a result of the economic crash and mass...
View ArticleReimagining the Post-Covid Economy
The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the usual functioning of the national economy with shocking speed and violence. Now, as states around the country move to “reopen”—in most cases far earlier and faster...
View ArticleThe Fraught Realities of Financial Relief During a Pandemic
Just before the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed into law, Republican Senators Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham, and Ben Sasse issued a press release demanding an “immediate fix” to...
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The Pandemic Is a Family Emergency
No one anticipated that when the fabric of society finally unraveled, in March 2020, everyone would turn into June Cleaver. People made all their meals from scratch, gloated over their sourdough...
View ArticleDid the Military Really Just Ban Coronavirus Survivors?
Last month, the military turned itself inside out over an aircraft carrier captain who pleaded for better care for his coronavirus-stricken crew. This month, the military has made coronavirus a...
View ArticleTrump’s Coronavirus Task Farce
It has been about three weeks since Donald Trump announced that his official task force on reopening the economy had been upgraded to—or perhaps superseded by—an advisory committee of America’s Top 200...
View ArticleThe Oil Crash Could Be Geothermal’s Big Break
As oil and gas companies falter under the weight of Covid-19 shutdowns, price wars, and their own massive debt burden, an unlikely beneficiary seems to be emerging: geothermal power. Ordinarily,...
View ArticleIs 5G Going to Kill Us All?
On a hot day last summer, Debbie Persampire, a 47-year-old homemaker who believes that cell phones are poisoning her children, took me on a tour of her irradiated house on Long Island. Her kids were at...
View ArticleThe Coronavirus Is Tearing Apart the American City
In early March, as Covid-19 became a national concern, the wealthy began fleeing the cities. They lit out for their luxury cottages in the Scottish Highlands and to survivalist camps in rural South...
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We’re All Preppers Now
A few weeks ago, I became convinced I ought to buy a compass. Also a tent, a LifeStraw, and solar chargers. Was I embarrassed about this 48-hour panic? Yes. But reading an op-ed at two in the morning...
View ArticleThe Pandemic Surveillance State
In late March, while many Florida beaches remained dangerously packed, Governor Ron DeSantis called for checkpoints along the state’s border for law enforcement to meet incoming travelers. He refused...
View ArticleA Presumption of Flynnocence
If you’re charged with a serious crime in the United States, you have the right to legal counsel at every stage of the process. If you’re a close political ally of President Donald Trump, you also get...
View ArticleMichelle Obama Won’t Save Us
When the teenage Michelle Obama told her guidance counselor that she intended to apply to an Ivy League school, the counselor replied that she wasn’t sure Michelle was “Princeton material.” In her...
View ArticleThe Depressing Future of the #MeToo Movement
Unless some other major allegation or piece of confirming evidence comes out—which it could well do—it feels as if Joe Biden has successfully weathered the sexual harassment and assault accusations...
View ArticleSomething’s Got to Give for the Work-From-Home Parent
During every conference call or video meeting, my anxiety goes up. What if my son starts crying? What if he wants to be fed? What if he needs a diaper change? Am I being a bad mother if I’m not giving...
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