The Half-True Story of Catherine the Great

Eileen Jones Jacobin
The Great shares a broadly similar style and subject with The Favorite, though it is neither as dark nor as committed to factual accuracy. The series shows the grotesque royal court life of Empress Catherine II of Russia, aka Catherine the Great.

The Coup Against ‘The Most Loyal Ally’

John Pilger CounterPunch
In 1975 an Anglo-American coup overthrew a democratically elected ally in a demeaning scandal in which sections of the Australian elite colluded. Today, Australia is a vassal state bar none.

Cyclone Amphan Strikes the Sundarbans, a Nursery of Universal Importance

Subhankar Banerjee Species in Peril
Distribution of cyclone relief materials
(A long read) Cyclone Amphan is the first to hit a densely peopled area during the pandemic, raising issues about its impact on the people, flora and fauna of the Sundarbans, and the role of cyclones in the crisis of human-caused species extinctions.

Friday Nite Videos | June 12, 2020

Portside
Police | John Oliver. Leonard Cohen | Anthem (w/lyrics). Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution | Movie. Invade Us, Canada | The Daily Show. Confederate Monuments Are Coming Down.

Police | John Oliver

As nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are met with police brutality, John Oliver discusses how the histories of policing and white supremacy are intertwined, the roadblocks to fixing things, and some potential paths forward.