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The Southern Key: Class, Race, & Radicalism in the 1930s & 1940s

Janet Wells Greene New York Labor History Association
The Southern Key argues that much of what is important in politics and society today was largely shaped by the successes and failures of the labor movements of the 30s and 40s, notably the failures of southern labor organizing during this period.

Why the Chicks Dropped Their "Dixie"

Amanda Petrusich The New Yorker
The all-female country band, formerly "The Dixie Chicks," which survived an instance of proto-cancel culture for its politics in the past, again wants to meet the current moment.

'John Lewis: Good Trouble’ A Portrait of an American Hero

David Fear Rolling Stone
John Lewis declares that, during the 1960s, he was arrested “a few times.” Then the elder statesman and éminence grise of the civil rights movement pauses before correcting himself in front of the large Dallas crowd he’s addressing: “40 times…"

Unsteady Work

Laura Marsh Dissent
"'Temporary' is the rare novel that reckons with unsteady work," says reviewer Marsh. "If the book is a surreal, absurd, sometimes self-defeating entry in the office genre, that is because temporary work is all those things."

How the Ice Cream Truck Made Summer Cool

Colin Dickey New Yorker
Harry Burt became the frst ice cream vendor to move from pushcart to truck, a move that changed how countless Americans eat—and how they experience summer.

It Happened Here

Alisa Solomon Jewish Currents
The Plot Against America—Philip Roth’s 2004 novel, as well as David Simon and Ed Burns’s recent television adaptation—imagines what might have transpired if the fascist tendency in the United States had gained power.

False Flag

Jed Myers
After nights of fire and looting, the poet Jed Myers asks in “False Flag” the simple question: who is shifting the blame to whom?

The Revolutionary Life of Dr. Alan Berkman

Michael Steven Smith Mondoweiss
Susan Reverby’s riveting biography of Alan Berkman is a magnificent book. Berkman was imprisoned in the 60s, convicted for his political work. On regaining his freedom he devoted his life to public health and helping those the system abandoned.

Our Time Is Now

Charles Kaiser The Guardian
An eloquent and moving call for voting rights reform shows the former Georgia House minority leader is ready for higher office.