Portside
Material of Interest to People on the Left
Portside
Material of Interest to People on the Left
Trump Demands BLS Director Fired Over Bad Jobs Report
Can States Reinvent U.S. Healthcare?
Mamdani for Mayor: The Fight We’ve Been Waiting For
Entering a Golden Age for War Profiteers
Badar Khan Suri, Abducted by ICE, Speaks Out
Friday Nite Videos | August 1, 2025
Mamdani’s Winning Formula: Fuse Message and Media
Tom Lehrer: Singer, Songwriter and Satirist
New Peace Plan Increases Pressure on Israel and US
How Do Human Egg Cells Stay Healthy for Decades?
Culture
poetry
In a Time of Peace
Ukanian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky examines the way complicity with an authoritarian regime can corrupt a whole society.
books
Playing With Academic Fire
Jadaliyya
This study of three late 1940s kibbutzim, writes reviewer Kanaaneh, “analyzes how these so-called leftist settlements” related to their Palestinian neighbors in “the land and the farming villages that were then wiped out of existence.”
film
The Undeniable Greatness of Jaws
Jacobin
Jaws is rightly celebrated as a landmark, generation-defining hit. But it’s not sufficiently recognized as a great 1970s film, exemplifying that rocky decade’s political ire, acerbic social critique, and the lingering practices of realist cinema movi
food
Microplastics May Be Making E. coli Infections Even More Dangerous, Scientists Say
Food & Wine
Studies show microplastics could have the unexpected effect of making foodborne illnesses even more dangerous than before.
tv
White House Bashes ‘South Park’ After Trump Parody: ‘This Show Hasn’t Been Relevant for Over 20 Years’ and Can’t ‘Derail Trump’s Hot Streak’
Variety
The “South Park” premiere was entirely centered around Trump suing those who speak out against him.
poetry
Night Owl
California poet Patrick Daly reflects on the reach, and limits, of the imagination, where nature, art and politics intertwine in often disturbing ways.
books
McCarthyism and Its Victims: Here We Go Again?
Portside
Repression is certainly in the air, its effects likely to be as chilling as intended: people are afraid and have good reasons to be afraid. Reviews of two recent books on Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and the Long War Against American Communism.
Labor
labor
Immigrant Workers in Italy Strike for a 40-Hour Week
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.
labor
Federal Cuts Put Washington State Workplace Safety Research at Risk
CASCADE PBS
Three programs that train occupational health experts and study worker safety for the state’s most dangerous jobs face an uncertain future.
labor
‘The US Mail Is Not for Sale’: Threat to USPS Is Real Postal Workers Warn
Work Bites
“This is truly a struggle between Wall Street and Main Street. It’s as simple as that,” APWU President Dimondstein said. “Wells Fargo is Wall Street. Wells Fargo wants to steal what belongs to the people of the country."
labor
Mamdani Returns From Uganda and Visits Slain Officer’s Family
The New York Times
Mr. Mamdani will address the shooting at a news conference with two groups whose members had been killed in the attack: 32BJ SEIU and the Bangladeshi American Police Association. The press conference will be held at the 32BJ headquarters.
labor
US Workers Say Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is Causing Labor Shortages: ‘A Strain on Everybody’
The Guardian
As Trump moves to strip over 1 million immigrants of legal status, factories grapple with slowdowns, say employees.
labor
Labor’s Strategy Must Lean Into Synergies
Convergence
The ferocity & scale of onrushing authoritarianism demand that we think beyond binaries. We can’t counterpose electoral & strike action: we need to do both. And we can’t decisively defeat MAGA without effectively challenging the neoliberal model.
labor
‘The Pitt’ Production Assistants Launch Landmark Unionization Drive (Exclusive)
The Hollywood Reporter
The laborers’ union in Hollywood is backing the push, which will be watched closely by early-career workers on other scripted shows.
Friday nite video
video
Tom Lehrer | We Will All Go Together When We Go
Tom Lehrer (April 9, 1928 – July 26, 2025) was a satirical song writer and mathematics teacher, whose biting commentary is still eerily and sadly relevant. Read the full obituary.
video
Epstein's Killer Caught on Camera? Forensic Expert Analysis
A careful analysis of the newly released surveillance footage from Jeffrey Epstein’s jail the night before his death, and a comparison with the claims in the official report.
video
Don't Disrespect The Flag! Trevor Noah
Why we're the only country that sings the national anthem all the time, and any way we want
video
Gang Databases | John Oliver
The massive problems caused by gang databases, how people wind up on them, and why nobody looks good in lime green.
video
South Park: What To Expect in Episode 2
Don't expect Trey Parker and Matt Stone to hold back. Cartman, the Devil and his little orange worshiper, and the Power Christian Principal are at it again.
video
Why Children Get so Many Vaccines
Children get a lot of shots in the first few years of life. Here’s why they get them and why they get them when they do.
video
Trump Promises To Reduce Drug Prices 1,000%
Faced with a deepening Epstein crisis, Trump makes gobbledygook drug price promise and points to Obama.
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