Labor’s Prodigal Son Returns

SEIU rejoins the AFL-CIO, even as arresting labor’s decline remains a daunting challenge.

Biden Expected To Lift ‘Terror’ Designation for Cuba

“It means that humanitarian organisations, church groups and various human rights organisations can now move aid to help the people in Cuba without facing any sort of US sanctions,” Fisher said.

Trump's Felony Conviction and Presidential Immunity

Trump’s appeal will decide how the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling applies to his hush money case.

NPR Shopped for 96 Items at Walmart

The rate of inflation has cooled for two years, and not everything is going up in price. So why does paying at checkout still cause such heartburn? What gives? NPR set off to answer that question at the most popular retailer in the United States.

Dispatches From the Culture Wars – January 14, 2025

Judgement Day for the merchants of death

LA Real Estate Lobbied: Develop in High-Risk Fire Areas

In California, policymakers have long warned that continued development in high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying fires. But real estate interests have lobbied hard against any development restrictions, helping exacerbate the LA fires.

Trump and His Crypto Cronies Have Big Plans

The incoming president and his Bitcoin-loving acolytes want to turn the government into their personal ATM.

This Week in People’s History, Jan 15–17

Image of the cover of Bob Dylan's album Bringing It All Back Home
Ain’t Gonna Play Acoustic Guitar No More (1965), 40 Acres and a Mule Was Working Fine (1865), ‘Your Heritage Is My Slavery’ (2000)

When You Exercise, Your Cells Are Talking to Each Other

How does exercise benefit health? Molecules called exerkines partly regulate its effects and provide therapeutic targets to mimic the benefits of exercise.

Denouncing the Merchants of Death

Who are the criminals? News coverage of five former or current presidents gathered for the funeral of President Jimmy Carter never hinted that hideous wars of choice along with massive increases in weapon sales had marked the administration of each.
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Culture

film

Costa-Garvas Directing the Revolution-‘Z’

Kenan Behzat Sharpe Jacobin
Political cinema can sometimes be too highbrow for a mass audience. But in the 1960s and early '70s, French-Greek director Costa-Garvas showed that films with a revolutionary message can also be popular.

tv

Squid Game 2, an Allegory of Capitalism Versus Democracy

Caitlyn Clark Jacobin
In the nail-biting new season of Netflix’s hit series Squid Game, players’ desperate circumstances push them to make fatally risky bets on individual success even when collective action might save them.

books

Balance of Power: Central Banks and the Fate of Democracies

Ivan Radanović LSE Review of Books
Reviewer Radanović calls this book essential reading for understanding why reconnecting central banks to the people is crucial to meet the major challenges of our time, from rising inequality to the climate crisis.

film

‘The Brutalist’ Review: Ambitions Unbound

Manohla Dargis The New York Times
Adrien Brody stars as a talented architect who flees postwar Europe to meet his match in America, a power-hungry industrialist played by Guy Pearce.

food

We Need To Talk About Trader Joe’s

Adam Reiner Taste Cooking
Trader Joe's copying products Behind the bubbly cashiers in Hawaiian shirts, craveable snacks, and bargain-basement prices are questionable business practices that have many food brands crying foul at the company’s blatant and aggressive copycat culture.

Labor

labor

The Video Game Industry Is Unionizing

An interview with Emma Kinema Robin LoBugilo Carolyn Jong Em Geiger Josiah Clark Jacobin
This summer, World of Warcraft and Bethesda Game Studios workers joined the growing number of video game developers organizing with Communications Workers of America. We spoke with some of the workers and organizers who have been unionizing

labor

The Labor Movement Just Notched Two Big Wins

Timothy Noah The New Republic
Photo of the Union President speaking from the podium. Trump’s victory makes it “That much more important to come together, to organize workers, to build real power, because that’s our best offense in this moment." - Jamieson from the Huff Post.

labor

Why Planned Parenthood Workers Revolted Over Gaza

Nicole Froio Yes Magazine
The Palestinian solidarity movement within Planned Parenthood is an example of how working-class power can be used to clarify connections between struggles, even when they seem to be disconnected from our own workplace, geographically or otherwise.

Friday nite video

video

Colonialism Is Back, Baby!

Desi Lydic and Jordan Klepper investigate Trump's push ahead of his inauguration, including making Canada the 51st state, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and possibly invading Greenland

video

Rastaman Chant/ Amazing Grace | Playing For Change

A profound medley of Rastaman Chant/Amazing Grace Song Around The World, featuring the incredible talents of John Cruz, Chris Pierce, River Eckert, Tal Ben Ari, Nour Darwish, and many gifted artists from across the globe

video

H-1B ('16 tons' Song Parody)

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy want cheap labor that they can force to work for whatever pay and hours they choose to set