Glacier Time Bombs

In High Mountain Asia, there are thousands of glaciers at some stage of transforming into large lakes that may burst, barreling down mountainsides. The recent Nepal incident is but a warning,

The Gutting of Higher Education

Leadership at the iconic progressive university has declared war on its own workforce, fired tenured professors, and shuttered whole departments. But what’s happening to the school is an increasingly common story across all of higher education.

The Datacenter Backlash – Against Big Tech Billionaires

The movement against datacenters is uniting Americans because they perfectly illustrate how a few individuals hold all the power to control decisions that affect our lives

A Reckoning on Research Ethics

In a field whose research methods can at times diverge from standard and approved methods in other academic areas, what are the legitimate ethical limits, especially with respect to cultivation of insider sources and source compensation?

Media Bits and Bytes — September 1, 2026

What Meta lost... and won

The Datacenter Backlash – Against Big Tech Billionaires

The movement against datacenters is uniting Americans because they perfectly illustrate how a few individuals hold all the power to control decisions that affect our lives

Volunteers Were the Key to NYC-DSA’s Socialist Sweep

Lost in conversations about New York socialists’ charisma or social media prowess in recent electoral victories is something simple: boots on the ground. New York City DSA mobilized thousands of volunteers and is poised to do so again in the future.

This Week in People’s History, Sep 2–8, 2026

Recent demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol for an increased minimum wage
The Minimum Wage Is Very Aptly Named (1961), What Does a Non-violent Movement Do About Threats of Violence? (1966), If You Haven’t Seen It, Now’s the Time (1966)

The ‘Last Universal Common Ancestor’ May Predate Life

A groundbreaking study hints at a hazy boundary between “life” and “non-life,” as well as two distinct origins of biology on Earth

Learning From COINTELPRO’s Survivors

"The goal of COINTELPRO wasn’t simply surveillance. Its goal was to divide us and make us distrust one another.” The technologies have changed. But perhaps the underlying energy has not.
Read more

Culture

food

Tech Alone Won’t Future-Proof the Food System, Experts Warn

Rich Bellis Agfundernews.com
There’s broad consensus that the food system needs updating but little agreement about how to do it. Calls for ambitious policy responses to climate and geopolitical risks in the current food system are growing louder.

poetry

Masters of War

Bob Dylan
Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan aims his words at those who profit from war and its weapons.

books

How To Fix the System

Steven Poole The Guardian
The Nobel-winning economist takes aim at elites for no longer meeting the needs of the masses.

Labor

labor

Dolly Parton Was a Proud Union Sister

John Nichols The Nation
Organized labor is celebrating the life and legacy of an artist who championed working women and carried a union card for almost 60 years.

labor

6 Ways To Rebuild Unions at the State and Local Levels Now

Francisco Diez Jacobin
The new crop of pro-worker legislators who have recently been elected at the state and local levels can pass laws that can rebuild the labor movement, even with Donald Trump as president. Here are six ways they can do it.

labor

Mississippi Transit Workers Strike for Better Protections and Service

Paul Prescod Labor Notes
Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the U.S., and is a “right-to-work” state with only 4 percent of its workers in unions. But since July 13, Highway 80 near Jackson has been lined by chanting picketers. They’re on strike at JTRAN

Friday nite video

Earth Is Warming Everywhere Except Here

Scientists call it the "cold blob." It could be a warning that one of Earth's most important climate systems may soon hit a tipping point where climate change no longer happens gradually.