UnitedHealthcare & UnitedHealth Group-Last Week Tonight

With Luigi Mangione’s upcoming sentencing, John Oliver devotes the full episode to covering UnitedHealth Group: Why customers hate them, how they got so profitable, and why doctors are wishing explosive diarrhea on their board members.

The Slave’s Power

Two recent books employ inventive approaches to read against the grain of the archive left by those who defended and benefited from human bondage.

Wage Suppression in 10 Charts

Wages make up a large share of income for most U.S. working families, lost wage growth meant sluggish income growth. There was one group where wage growth, and income growth, was substantial: the top 1%, whose wages skyrocketed 182% since 1979

The ‘Gray Arm’ of Israeli Annexation

A settler-led wing of the army is driving Palestinian displacement on the state's behalf. But as Yagil Levy explains, this devil's bargain comes not without costs.

What Barbara Kingsolver Believes the Novel Can Do

One of the country’s most popular novelists writes what she calls socially engaged fiction. In her new book, she considers the role of art—and who it’s for.

How Amazon Busts Unions, in Its Own Words

Internal documents disclosed in a British Columbia labor case give us an incredibly detailed look into how exactly Amazon carries out its union-busting operations.

Donald Trump’s ‘Biggest Oil Deal in World History’

The US’s oil deal with Venezuela faces multiple legal and logistical problems, including questions about whether it can be implemented

Why Medicare for All Is Now Possible

The politics of health care are finally catching up with patients and physicians.

Centrist Path Dependency in the Swedish Elections

The election result is a parliament that looks center-left and a policy landscape that remains center-right.

Amílcar Cabral and Revolutionary Education

National liberation, in Cabral’s conception, was simply one step along the road to emancipation from an economic system founded on exploitation by one’s fellow man. Colonialism was a consequence and not the cause of capitalist domination.
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Culture

poetry

Writing My Country

Beau Beausoleil
Poet Beau Beausoleil has been called "the most important voice of witness in our country right now."

poetry

Complications

William Berkowitz
At a time when the Trump administration attacks the Smithsonian for presenting a complicated picture of American history, poet William Berkowitz muses on how quickly society forgets its own history.

books

Algiers, Black Panthers, Freedom Fighters, Revolutionaries

Ben Ehrenreich The Guardian
In the 1960s, Algeria became an international home for exiled artists, intellectuals and freedom fighters. Elaine Mokhtefi, who died in New York City on September 11 at age 97, met them all. Here is a 2018 review of her memoir.

Labor

labor

Video Game Workers Win First Contract at Microsoft-Owned Blizzard

Dan DiMaggio Labor Notes
Workers who make some of the world’s most popular video games, including World of Warcraft and Diablo, won their first union contracts in early September, in an important step forward for organizing in the tech industry.

labor

DoorDash To Pay $131.5M To Settle Wage Theft Affecting 260,000

Carter Myers-Brown The Chief
New York City officials announced a record $131.5 million settlement with the app-based delivery company Door Dash on Tuesday, saying the delivery company illegally underpaid more than 260,000 workers.

labor

AutoZone Workers Are Trying To Form the Company’s First-Ever Union

Luis Feliz Leon Labor Notes
AutoZone workers went public in July with their drive to join United Auto Workers Local 259. Workers’ rights watchdog LaborLab estimates that the parts retailer AutoZone has paid $210,696 to managers and lawyers to crush their effort.

Friday nite video

video

The Radical Solution to our Rigged Tax Code

How exactly should we tax the rich? We lay out 3 specific ways to target and reduce the wealth gap in society, including taxing billionaires’ SuperPAC contributions.

video

Naza | Documentary

Award-winning documentary, produced with the team behind the Zone of Interest and directed by Oscar-winning film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, includes testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders

video

An Economist Explains: This Is How To Tax Billionaires

Mehdi Hasan sits down with economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the world’s leading experts on tax avoidance and wealth inequality. “If you want to ensure that the super rich pay their fair share, you have to go after wealth itself.”