Friday Nite Videos | August 8, 2025

Trump Boosts Tariffs and Stephen's Ratings. Kronos Quartet + Allison Russell | A Hard Rain. Texas Town Emptied by ICE Raids. Join Ice | Jesse Welles. Is Information a Fundamental Force of Our Universe?

Primary Colors: On Progressive Electoral Strategy

Progressives should prioritize consolidating ideological strength in safe Democratic districts. The left needs to show—not just argue—that its leaders and policies work, and that requires starting from terrain where those policies can be implemented

A New Wave of Palestinian Popular Struggle Takes Root

Amid growing outrage over Gaza, protests and hunger strikes mark a renewed Palestinian movement determined to bridge division and sustain resistance.

Sherman’s March Opened the Door for Self-Emancipation

Historian Bennett Parten's new book, Somewhere Toward Freedom, focuses on the experience of those who seized a chance at emancipation. “Through the collective weight and power of their movement, [they] found a way to essentially be in the room.”

mRNA Vaccines Are Revolutionary – And Under Attack

mRNA vaccines are a first line of defence in pandemic preparedness and are being investigated for treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and genetic diseases. RFK Jr. just cancelled a half billion dollars of contracts for their development.

Mahmoud Khalil Tells His Story

The Palestinian activist discusses the Columbia protests, ICE detention and free speech in the U.S. The government wanted others like him to fear them. It wanted noncitizens and immigrants to stop speaking out. If they could do this to Khalil...

Mamdani Spurred More Than 10,000 Progressives To Run

Group geared at mobilizing young leftist candidates saw record sign-up after Mamdani’s NYC victory. Mamdani bump blends excitement about the candidate, interest in leftist policies and zeal for shoe-leather campaigning, both on the ground and online.

The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Is a Stain on Both Parties

Forget partisan finger-pointing. The Jeffrey Epstein scandal cuts across party lines, indicting economic and political elites alike. Epstein just enjoyed the perks of life in one of the very top tiers of a society where laws are for little people.

Eighty Years of Nuclear Terror

Ever since the atomic bombings of Japanese cities in August 1945, the world has been living on borrowed time. To facilitate these nuclear war preparations, the major nuclear powers have withdrawn from key nuclear arms control and disarmament treaties

Reader Comments & Tidbits, Aug 7, 2025

Readers Comments: Not Just Texas, It's Voting Rights and Democracy Under Assault; ICE Block; GOP Cover-Up: Ultra Rich Power Grab and Child Sex Trafficking; Gaza is Time to Remember Hiroshima - War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things;
Read more

Culture

poetry

In Breath / Out Breath

Esther Kamkar
Iranian-American poet Esther Kamkar has lived in both Iran and Israel. Rather than split herself in two, she strives to knit her warring halves together.

books

The Most Important Book of 2025

Paul Buhle Portside
If denial of collective self-determination of a people is a sin of the modern age, as Israeli defenders often repeat, what of the self-determination of Palestinians? Palestinian violence falls and rises when the hopes for autonomy...[are] crushed...

books

The Liberal Who Hates Leftists

Pratinav Anil The Guardian
In his caustic critique of identity politics, Williams ends up condemning every kind of collective action.

tv

Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man

Carl Beijer Jacobin
Hulk Hogan, who died this week at age 71, was the most important professional wrestler who ever lived. He was also a terrible human being.

poetry

In a Time of Peace

Ilya Kaminsky
Ukanian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky examines the way complicity with an authoritarian regime can corrupt a whole society.

Labor

labor

A Spark of Hope From Scrappy Federal Workers

Hadas Thier Hammer & Hope
The federal work force, like much of the country, is in a do-or-die moment. As federal unions engage in lengthy legal battles, the growing Federal Unionists Network has provided a fulcrum for rank-and-file members who don’t want to wait to resist.

labor

“No Tax on Tips” Is an Industry Plant

Eyal Press The New Yorker
Trump’s “populist” policy is backed by the National Restaurant Association—probably because it won’t stop establishments from paying servers below the minimum wage.

labor

Deporting Immigrants Kills Native Jobs Too

Doug Henwood LBO News
Deporting immigrants will lead to job loss for immigrants - but as Ben Zipperer shows in work for the Economic Policy Institute, almost as many native-born workers could lose their jobs as deported immigrants as industries contract.

labor

Immigrant Workers in Italy Strike for a 40-Hour Week

An interview with Sarah Caudiero Jacobin
Italy’s small textile firms have long been considered nearly impossible to organize. But a recent wave of successful simultaneous strikes is expanding possibilities for Italy’s hyperexploited immigrant workforce.

Friday nite video

video

Is Information a Fundamental Force of Our Universe?

Researchers put forward a bold new law of nature — one that could explain how everything in the universe evolves, from atoms, minerals and stars to living cells, ecosystems and even human civilization