Portside
Material of Interest to People on the Left
Portside
Material of Interest to People on the Left
“Capitalism has Become a Weapon of Mass Destruction”
The Message From the Amazon Union Defeat in Alabama
The US Dollar’s Hegemony is Looking Fragile
Covid, BLM and American Politics
How Gun Rights Helped Neo-fascists
Friday Nite Videos | April 9, 2021
Prince Philip: Godfather of Anglo-British Nationalism
Biden Creates Commission to Study Supreme Court Reform
Researchers Are Hatching a Low-Cost Coronavirus Vaccine
Interview: Noam Chomsky Without Regrets
Popular
The Good White Christian Women of Nazi Germany
Despite what you’ve read, most of them didn’t resist.
Culture
poetry
Earth Shovel
Cincinnati Review
“The thing about the universe,” writes poet Dan Albergotti, “is that it seems infinite, but really it’s only a ceaseless series of extinctions.”
books
Tangled Up in Blue: Lessons for Police Reform?
CounterPunch
Law professor and scion of a widely read radical activist/author family, Rosa Brooks went beyond the blue wall of silence in her inside view of American policing. Among the retrograde lessons stressed in training, “Anyone can kill you at any time.”
books
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
The Berkshire Edge
This book seeks to deepen the conversation about how racism hurts the whole of our society, not just those that are its primary targets.
film
Americans Believe In Work. WeWork Preyed On That Instinct.
Vox
On Hulu’s new documentary and why we keep falling for guys like Adam Neumann.
food
When Did Following Recipes Become a Personal Failure?
The Atlantic
A new book that claims to make the act of cooking fun when it sometimes seems like a chore is an exciting, though daunting, invitation to improvise.
tv
Superstore Was the Best Sitcom of Its Era, A Wildly Funny and Poignant Capitalist Tragedy
Vox
The fantastic comedy, now streaming in full on Hulu, never lost sight of how corporate America makes life hell for the people who work within it.
poetry
Thief
AGNI
The late poet Lee Sharkey illuminates varieties of theft—“The CEO,” “The tyrant,” “the thief of memory.”
Labor
labor
The Message from the Amazon Union Defeat in Alabama Is Clear: Keep Organizing
Working In These times
The union’s loss in Bessemer shows the urgent need for both labor law reform and organizing at a mass scale.
labor
The Enormous Impact of Eroded Collective Bargaining on Wages
Economic Policy Institute
Legislation that expands collective bargaining by enabling workers to choose union representation and strengthens union rights is critically important to restoring wage growth and wage equality.
labor
The Filibuster Threatens Both Civil Rights and Workers’ Rights
ACS Expert Forum
The For the People Act and the Protecting the Right to Organize Act are essential to ensuring working people are heard in legislative chambers and corporate boardrooms. The fate of these bills hinges on an anti-democratic Senate rule: the filibuster.
labor
‘She-Wees’ and Plastic Bags: Amazon’s Pee Scandal is Much Worse for Women
Motherboard
Reporters quickly proved "the peeing in bottles thing" is real and that Amazon is well aware this happens, and will fire drivers who are caught peeing in public.
labor
Alabama Amazon Organizing Drive is a Case Study in Why It's So Important to Pass the PRO Act
Daily Kos
The Amazon organizing drive has drawn attention to just how much the deck is stacked against workers and unions. The Pro Act would provide a much-needed update to labor law after decades of rising inequality and an erosion of collective bargaining.
labor
Informal Workers Have the Tools to Build Better Cities Post-Crisis — Will Governments Listen?
Next City
Informal workers around the world lost about 75% of earnings in the first few months of the pandemic, but were largely excluded from relief programs. But they are organizing and even winning some demands.
labor
'The Fuse Has Been Lit': Union Leaders Hope Amazon Effort Will Boost Support Across US
The Guardian
Vote in Bessemer, Alabama, is chance to inform younger generations about the role unions play, labor leaders say
Friday nite video
video
The National Debt | John Oliver
John Oliver discusses how national debt works, and why it might be more helpful that you think.
video
Biko | Peter Gabriel
“You can blow out a candle, but you can't blow out a fire.” Featuring Yo-Yo Ma, the Cape Town Ensemble, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Taiko Project, Dynamic Music Collective and Silkroad.
video
Jordan Klepper Debunks “Good Guy With a Gun”
Can a “good guy with a gun” really stop a mass shooting? Jordan Klepper finds out. #DailyShow #JordanKlepper #Guns
video
Fighting for Equality in Computer Science and Beyond
Rediet Abebe uses the tools of theoretical computer science to understand pressing social problems — and try to fix them.
video
Why So Many QAnon Believers Are Evangelical Christians
The intersection of politics and religion goes back to the earliest days of American history.
video
Why Matt Gaetz Is a Product of the Modern Republican Party | Mehdi Hasan
"The reason we are where we are today is because the old school Republicans didn't stand up to the crazies. They embraced them, however uneasily."
video
Louis Armstrong - Go Down Moses (Lyrics)
The story of Passover sounds a universal note of struggle against oppression.
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