The MAGA storming of the Capitol is two years old. The attempted coup is still happening. The reshaping of the Republican Party as an insurrectionary force and the expansion of armed gangs aim to smash democracy. Please help us to inform, to mobilize and to inspire the forces of multi-racial, radical, inclusive democracy to defeat this threat in 2023.

Lithium Mining in California’s Salton Sea

Once a tourist destination, the Salton Sea faces ecological collapse, toxic dust storms—and maybe a lithium boom.

500 Labor Historians Condemn Biden on Railroads

It’s never good when people who spend their entire professional lives studying the subject say you fucked up.

Art and Propaganda in Pandemic Times

The pursuit of political truth is never a one-time arrival point, but rather, something an artist must belabor again and again with each new iteration expanding on the previous and informing the next.

Remembering Fred Ross Jr.

“So, fighting and organizing for racial and economic justice is in my DNA,” Ross said on many occasions. He acknowledged that he had gotten into a fair amount of trouble doing his organizing work — “good trouble, as John Lewis used to say"

How Many More Kids Will Britain Send to War?

The Northern Ireland Troubles bill shows the British government learnt nothing from the killing of Aidan McAnespie and the conflict in Ireland

Friday Nite Videos | December 2, 2022

Herschel Walker's Campaign Dealt New Blow. MTG Back on Twitter | Mike Lindell As RNC Chair? How Ticketmaster Is Destroying Live Music. Chronic Lyme Disease: The Quiet Epidemic. Who Paid for Jeff Bezos To Fly to Space?

Judge Aileen Cannon’s Reign of Error Is Over

The Trump-appointed judge, who tried to do the former president a favor in the Mar-a-Lago affair, received a stern correction from the Eleventh Circuit.

White Nationalists Give Mar-a-Lago Disappointing Review

According to a source close to Trump, the former President was shaken by the one-star reviews.

The Disturbing Kanye Clips That Tucker Didn’t Air

Motherboard obtained footage of Ye making bigoted statements about Jewish people and bizarre claims about "fake children," as well as describing visions of "kinetic energy" cities sent to him by God.

Julia Reichert, Oscar-Winning Documentarian, Dies

Her films include three Academy Award nominees: "Union Maids," "Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists" (with Jim Klein) and "The Last Truck: Closing of A GM Plant" (with Steven Bognar).
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Culture

poetry

In Ukraine

Beau Beausoleil
San Francisco poet Beau Beausoleil reminds us that the war in Ukraine goes on, people are dying, all obscured by political shadows and dubious communications.

books

Staughton Lynd’s Radicalism From Below

Marcus Rediker The Nation
The historian and activist dedicated his life to showing how, and helping, working people not only imagine but build a better world. Working with his partner Alice (Niles) Lynd, he relentlessly sought out new sources of combat and inspiration.

food

The Fakelore of Food Origins

Ashawnta Jackson JSTOR
Food history is replete with honored legends, creative stories, slightly twisted truths, unsupported claims, leaps of faith, and outright lies. Actually most new dishes are not invented; they evolve.

It’s Been a Helluva Year, Tuesday Is Giving Tuesday

Portside Moderator Portside
Once in a while, we – the volunteer moderators of Portside – take the opportunity to talk directly to us – the entire Portside community – about how we see things and how you can pitch in. (Tuesday is Giving Tuesday) Our thoughts, in brief:

poetry

The Americans

Peter Neil Carroll Amsterday Quarterly
Thanksgiving Day is surely an American holiday, even for some subversives who defy the US government--at least on TV!

Labor

labor

Revolution at the UAW

Harold Meyerson The American Prospect
This week, the votes in the UAW General Officers election are being counted. And, holy shit, the first results appear to signal little short of a revolution.

labor

Doctors Finally Join the Labor Movement

Karim Sariahmed The Nation
A challenge to Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx by a broad coalition of its own workers is a frontline struggle against the most exploitative tendencies of the whole industry.

labor

The Autoworker Who Transformed California

Nelson Lichtenstein, Harold Meyerson The American Prospect
Paul Schrade, 1924 - 2022, devoted his life to building an America and a California that enjoyed broadly shared prosperity and racial egalitarianism. It’s that for which he should be remembered.

labor

The Academic Proles on the Barricades

Harold Meyerson American Prospect
12,000 striking postdoctoral scholars reached a tentative agreement with the University of California to boost their wages and benefits.

Friday nite video

video

How Ticketmaster Is Destroying Live Music

Ticketmaster is destroying live music. Fees as much as 78% of a ticket. Controlling events, venues, even artists. There’s a movement pushing the Justice Department to take on their monopoly. Cory Doctorow breaks it down.

video

Qatar World Cup | John Oliver

The Qatar World Cup, human rights violations in the host country, and what perfection really means to David Beckham