Portside

Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda isolated glutamic acid, naturally present in seaweed, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese etc; he dubbed it the 5th taste: umami. His discovery, called MSG, was popular before concern arose about food additives in the 60's.

Lobbying firms have disguised their influence so well that it’s often barely visible even to savvy Washington insiders.

A group of neuroscientists argue that our words are primarily for communicating, not for reasoning.

As a major proponent of global warming, Trump apparently thinks it benefits him to be perceived as a savior of jobs in the coal industry, not because he can do much to protect coal jobs, but it allows him to appear to be supporting workers.

Political preferences are often discussed through a one-size-fits-all middle-class lens. But empirical data shows that class significantly influences voting patterns, with growing class consciousness driving dissatisfaction with established parties.

Konstantin Stanislavski is perhaps the greatest and most influential figure in the history of acting. His comprehensive system of training has dominated the world of theatre and film from the early 20th century until today.

April Verrett, the newly elected international president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is ready to come out the gate running––or, at least, organizing.

Critic Emily Nussbaum makes the case for the guilty pleasure as an art form.

Amazon workers will soon vote on their union leadership. The mail-in ballots go out June 27 with a return deadline of July 18. The American Arbitration Association is running the vote.

All Americans are impacted by attacks on democracy and can be rallied to work for imperfect Democratic candidates to block authoritarians like Donald Trump. While it’s tempting to cast our votes based on emotion it is too risky.