Information is power. Our mission at Portside is to seek out and to provide information that empowers you -- that empowers the left. Every day we search hundreds of sources to connect you with the most interesting, striking and useful material. Just once a year we appeal to you to contribute to make it possible to continue this work. Please help.

 

Archives

For posts before June 2012, please follow these links to our archives.

40 Years of Making People Visible Through Portraiture

Ryan White Vice
Photographer Dawoud Bey has been taking portraits of a wide range of African American subjects for decades. His powerful, but apparently unassuming style imprints on our minds the beauty of everyday people.

Questionnaire

Wendell Berry Reflections
As the matter of gun control remains unresolved, the comments of poet Wendell Berry seem particularly relevant.

Jazz and Justice

Gregory N. Heires Portside
The book under review charts two worlds of the Jazz industry, paying attention both to the joy it brought to listeners alongside the depth of racism and economic exploitation behind the music.

‘The Water Dancer’: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ American Odyssey

David Fear Rolling Stone
This first novel by famed essayist Coates explores the world of slavery and abolition. The author "re-creates the world of the pre-Civil War South," says reviewer Fear, "with a journalist’s eye and ear for detail."

Covering for Roy Cohn

David Klion The New Republic
'Where is My Roy Cohn?' the new documentary about Cohn's life and circle is a study in complicity.

Guide to Food-Centric Films

Brian Barth Modern Farmer
Food-themed films on the menu this Fall
This fall, the food film festival circuit features many aspects of the food system and the people behind the scenes.