Portside

In 2012, California amended its "Three Strikes" law--one of the harshest criminal sentencing policies in the country. The passage of Prop. 36 marked the first time in U.S. history that citizens voted to shorten sentences of those currently incarcerated. Within days the reintegration of thousands of "lifers" was underway. The Return examines this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines--prisoners suddenly freed.

Given their history, “are eggs healthy?” has become a frequently asked nutrition question. To answer this, it’s important to look at eggs not only on their own, but in context of the entire diet, especially when compared to foods they may replace (and vice-versa).

If you really want to understand how Moscow sees U.S. intelligence, turn off the congressional hearings and start watching “Adaptation.”

Carolina poet Dan Albergotti ponders the death of democracy--and worse--asking: "Who chose this suicide?"

Based on research during and immediately following World War 2, this pathbreaking book analyzed the proclivities individuals might have toward support for authoritarian regimes, stressing preconceived attitudes on race, class, sexuality and nationalism, concluding that fascism’s attraction came not (or not just) from political agreement but from a personality structured by larger, repressive social forces in which sociological influences upon ideology are mediated.

Claude McKay (1889-1948) was a Jamaican-born poet and novelist who became one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance, the 1920s upsurge of black culture that was a central feature of the jazz age. He was also a leading left wing intellectual of the era. This newly discovered novel is a literary and cultural milestone.

Food is central to the Gullah way of life. The keepers of Black Southern coastal communities share their insights about retaining their culture in the face of significant change.

As if you needed more reasons to watch a show starring Oscar-winner Julie Andrews, her new Netflix children's show, Julie's Greenroom, features a character who identifies as gender neutral.

The review slams four female writers for misdiagnosing the alienation attendant to contemporary women's roles by urging changes in behavior without analyzing the work/household dynamic and persistent gender inequality, preferring either a retreat into so-called womanly roles or encouraging masculine-style individualism. They ignore redefining attitudes toward care and care workers, and securing for them social recognition and material support.

The Egyptian-born, Brooklyn-based poet Marwa Halal focuses on the absurdity of labeling diverse people inhabiting a certain portion of our global maps as part of the same (misunderstood) "middle east."