Dispatches From the Culture Wars – May 21, 2024
- What Made Biden Budge
- The Perpetual Twilight of Our Times
- Public Power in New York State
- Anti-Feminist Women's Group
- Fear on Campus
- Macklemore’s “Hind’s Hall”
- MAGA Court Takeover
- The Texas Abortion Bounty Law
- Amythyst Kiah and the Black Roots of Country Music
- Harrison Butker: The Man From Gilead
By Jeet Heer
The Nation
Popular protests have forced the hand of a president who touts his unwavering Zionism and “love” of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even as Biden slowly and grudgingly moves towards the position of the protesters, he is loath to admit that they were the ones who forced the change.
The Perpetual Twilight of Our Times
Trauma can never be outrun, but it is a human impulse to try. If we want to avoid a future in which we continue to put ourselves at the mercy of anti-majoritarian authoritarians, then we need to stop and take stock of how we got here.
Public Power in New York State
By Colin Kinniburgh
New York Focus
State lawmakers are set to introduce a sweeping proposal for a public takeover of Central Hudson, the region’s scandal-plagued gas and electric utility. Democratic structure would support the bill’s two other core aims: increasing affordability and going green.
By Ansev Demirhan
Ms.
The anti-feminist Independent Women’s Voice/Forum has officially launched its 2024 election agenda. One way it is putting that agenda into action is by continuing to try and blunt the horrific repercussions of the Supreme Court overturning Roe, while deploying their veneer of independence to sway centrist and independent voters.
Fear on Campus
- The New Assault on Academic Freedom By Stephen Zunes, The Progressive
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UCLA’s Unholy Alliance By Robin D.G. Kelly, Boston Review
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Christian Zionists Trying to Take Over Colleges By Aidan Orly, In These Times
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Columbia Discriminated Against Muslim Professor By Rowaida Abdelaziz, Huffpost
By Aja Romano
Vox
One of the things that made Macklemore’s Gaza protest rap “Hind’s Hall” so electrifying when it dropped on May 6 is how unexpected it was. The post-Trump era has been a fallow period for protest music. But if “Hind’s Hall” hints at a return, there are other complicating factors at play when we think about what protest music even means in contemporary America.
By Alyssa Bowen and Evan Vorpahl
Truthout
Some of the key national actors who helped hand-pick and back the nominations of the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court — who are likewise tied to groups litigating court cases to turn back our rights — have also sought to capture state courts to further advance their regressive agenda.
By Jill Filipovic
Slate
Should the very state of being pregnant place women in a subclass of citizen, vulnerable to criminal prosecution or civil penalties for behavior that would be perfectly legal from a nonpregnant person? Judging by their proposed legislation and various legal antics, the anti-abortion movement says: Yes. Pregnant women simply should not have the same rights as any other U.S. citizen.
Amythyst Kiah and the Black Roots of Country Music
Amythyst Kiah is a powerhouse folk singer. But alongside her growing command of the music that she has loved all her life, she is proudly a Black Appalachian native. While living in the birthplace of early roots music, Kiah found her love of country and bluegrass.
Harrison Butker: The Man From Gilead
By Miriam Jayaratna
McSweeney's
Guess which quotes are from the Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College, and which are from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.