Where the Rule of Law Still Lives—for Now

During Trump’s first term, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was a rare oasis of judicial sobriety. It will face an even sterner test the next time around.

The Left Must Fight To Popularize Its Vision

After Trump’s victory, the Left must confront right-wing faux populism while facing a Democratic establishment hostile to the class politics that could actually defeat it. We can’t stop now, but we must organize on our own terms.

Biden Urged To Act Now on Mass Deportations

"President Biden must use the power of the pen to protect those seeking sanctuary from the coming deportation machine that will crush the human rights of our immigrant neighbors," said one Amnesty leader.

Joe Biden Keeps His Son out of Prison

Hunter Biden deserved a pardon. But America deserved a lot more than that.

Dispatches From the Culture Wars – December 3, 2024

The Great Purge and Resistance 2.0

Election Aftermath

Staring Down Misogyny

#GivingTuesday and the Challenge of Wannabe Fascism

How can we prevent a wannabe dictator from consolidating absolute power? Please help us to inform, analyze and mobilize in the year ahead. Here's how you can help Portside on Giving Tuesday...

This Week in People’s History, Dec 4–10

A 1969 Black Panther Party poster by Emory Douglas
Black Panthers Under the Gun - I (1969), Teddy Roosevelt Gives U.S. Imperialism the Nod (1904), Racist Terror in Vicksburg (1874), Black Panthers Under the Gun - II (1969), Coltrane Lays Down a Masterpiece (1964), A Rocky Start for Gay Rights (1924)

Sarah McBride Wasn’t Asking for a Fight on Trans Rights

The first trans person elected to Congress discusses how to respond to a bathroom bill and transphobic attacks from her new colleagues in the House.

Anti-Zionist Israeli MP: ’I Will Never Surrender

Ofer Cassif — currently suspended from the Knesset for opposing genocide in Gaza — discusses Israel’s descent into fascism, building the movement that can defeat Netanyahu, and why he will never give up the fight for Palestinian freedom.
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Popular

Culture

food

The Great American Turkey

Livia Gershon JSTOR
The turkey was semi-domesticated and kept in pens in the American Southwest some 2,000 years ago—but not for the reason you think.

poetry

On Progress

Ruben Quesada Omnium Gatherum Quarterly, Brutal Companion
In the shadow of 9/11, poet Ruben Quesada shows us the destructiveness and death that come with "progress."

books

John Lewis: A Life

Steve Nathans-Kelly New York Journal of Books
"More than any Lewis biography to date," writes reviewer Nathans-Kelly, this book "captures that life’s complex, magnificent, and underappreciated second act.”

film

‘The Piano Lesson’ Review: Ghosts in the Instrument

Alissa Wilkinson The New York Times
In 1990, “The Piano Lesson” won the eminent playwright August Wilson his second of two Pulitzers for drama. It’s part of his Pittsburgh Cycle (sometimes called his Century Cycle), a set of 10 decade-spanning plays about Black American life.

This Cheese Is Your Cheese

Hannah Walhout Ambrook Research
There’s a literal wide world of cheeses out there. As U.S. dairies struggle, should we be making more of them? Sometimes, this can make all the difference in keeping a farm in business.

Labor

labor

Amazon’s Anti-Union Model and the Damage Done

Paris Marx Jacobin
Canadian postal workers are striking for fair wages and better working conditions. This is putting them in direct conflict with the business model Amazon champions, where workers are treated as disposable and unions are crushed.

labor

Reflecting on Seattle’s WTO Legacy

Julie Bouanna The Stand
By gathering to honor the spirit of the WTO protests, we hope to empower the labor community with practical tools and renewed inspiration to advocate for a fairer, more transparent trade system that values people, not just profit.

labor

1934 and Now: History Lives!

Peter Rachleff Labor Online
The 1934 Minneapolis Teamsters was a historic fight and victory in the history of the American labor movement.

Friday nite video

Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee) | Lance Canales

The story of the 1948 plane crash that took the lives of 32 passengers told by Woody Guthrie's poem Deportee, performed with guttural vocals, hard-edged, stripped down, foot-stomping acoustic instrumentation

video

What Happens When R's Lose: The NC Test Case

R's suffered a near wipeout in North Carolina, but the outgoing legislature is attempting a truly Trumpian power grab to thwart the expressed will of the voters and to eviscerate democracy

video

Union | (Amazon) Documentary

The day-to-day struggles of the Amazon Labor Union, an immersive portrait that celebrates solidarity while acknowledging the difficult decisions and internal conflicts

Leonard Cohen | Everybody Knows

By Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and collaborator Sharon Robinson, originally released in 1988. Still unfortunately relevant to our times.