What did Woody Guthrie discover about his landlord, Fred Trump? This essay examines the forgotten protest song "Old Man Trump," federally subsidized housing, and the history of racial discrimination in postwar America.
What happens when politics becomes entertainment? This essay explores the concept of kayfabe, borrowed from professional wrestling, to examine how spectacle, identity, and performance increasingly shape modern democratic politics.
Did McCarthy expose communist spies, or exploit genuine espionage to manufacture a political panic? This essay examines the Venona decrypts, Soviet archives, and the historical record behind one of America's most enduring political myths.
Has America forgotten its closest ally? This essay examines Canada's long record of standing beside the United States in war, disaster, and continental defense, arguing that gratitude is not weakness but historical honesty.
Why do qualified job candidates so often disappear into silence? This essay examines the modern hiring process, corporate ghosting, and the emotional toll of searching for work in an increasingly impersonal labor market.
What happened to the American middle class? This essay examines how pensions, unions, long-term employment, and community gave way to shareholder capitalism, asking who benefited when the American social contract began to disappear.
Why do facts so often lose to slogans? This essay examines America's resistance to evidence, contrasting political rhetoric with policy outcomes and arguing that learning begins with the willingness to ask for proof.
What happens when political movements stop debating ideas and begin screening out disagreement? This essay examines echo chambers, ideological loyalty, and why free thought depends upon the willingness to confront inconvenient facts.
Why have so few transgender athletes become such a dominant political issue? This essay examines how fear, symbolism, and manufactured outrage can transform a tiny population into the center of a national political campaign while larger problems remain unresolved.
How does modern political propaganda work? This essay examines how fear, distraction, and manufactured outrage can replace policy debate, arguing that democracy ultimately depends upon citizens willing to verify claims before believing them.