Dispatches From the Culture Wars — July 14, 2026
- Farce of July
- The Platner Conundrum
- Lies and Truth About the Smithsonian
- Florida Cubans and Latin America Policy
- Kids Jump In
- Please Master Save Us from the Commies
- 2026 Labor Notes Conference
- Biscuits in the Oven, Buns in the Bed — Meet Emma Waters
- Talking Strategy
- Palestine Showdown at Christian Zionist Summit
By Rex Huppke, USA TODAY
This spectacle on the National Mall in Washington, DC, part of Trump’s Trump-centric celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, is like watching your high school bully host a party that no one attends. It’s a daily humiliation for a wildly unpopular president who coopted what should be a unifying national celebration and turned it into repellent schlock.
By Chris Hayes and Rebecca Traister, MS NOW
“The communicator who sort of brought people together has really disappointed, betrayed, and enraged them. But that doesn’t mean that energy’s not still there, and that that hope’s not still there,” says Rebecca Traister on Democrats’ path forward after Graham Platner’s exit.
Lies and Truth About the Smithsonian
By Gerren Keith Gaynor, The Grio
After the Trump White House issued a July 4 report accusing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History of “extreme political activism,” Lonnie Bunch, who has headed the Smithsonian since 2019, defended the institution’s work and pushed back against White House claims that the museum “erases our history.”
Florida Cubans and Latin America Policy
By Greg Grandin, The Intercept
Both AIPAC and the greater Latin American lobby had, in the second Trump term, achieved close to their maximal ambitions simultaneously: the deployment of U.S. Special Operations forces, CIA assassination teams, naval blockades, and sanctions. Yet both lobbies now find themselves something like the dog that caught the car, and then was run over.
By Jessica Machado, The Guardian
Children-centered activism is happening in progressive spaces and small neighborhood parenting groups around New York City, as families figure out how to explain to their children why ICE agents are in their neighborhood, what the Iran war is about and how they can be most helpful in their communities.
Please Master Save Us from the Commies
Red Scare 2.0 By Marie Newman, Marie Newman Studio Substack
Those Darn Democratic Socialists By Eduardo Cuevas, MSN
Standing in the Shadows of Cointelpro By Aaron J. Leonard, Truthout
By Aaron Niederman, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
Given that Labor Notes was such a huge conference—with more than thirty-five simultaneous streams of programming—my goal with this recap is not to be exhaustive. Instead, I want to highlight some of the hot-button issues, internal debates, and moments that felt especially eye-opening. My hope is simply that it creates a useful jumping-off point for further research and action.
Biscuits in the Oven, Buns in the Bed — Meet Emma Waters
By Jessica Valenti, Abortion, Every Day
Over the past few months, the powerful Heritage Foundation machine has pushed out book promo for Waters, put her on panels, and given her a new podcast—“Rethinking Fertility.” In other words, they want her to be a Gen Z Phyllis Schlafly—advising young women to stay at home while she, herself, enjoys a high-profile career writing books, giving talks, and shaping national policy.
Talking Strategy
Beyond Powerlessness By Yotam Marom, Convergence
Flood the Resistance! By Jeff Crosby, The New Liberator
A New Era By Michael Lange, The Narrative Wars
Palestine Showdown at Christian Zionist Summit
By David Katibah, Religion News Service
Marchers from a variety of religious backgrounds took part in a demonstration organized by Interfaith Action for Palestine in protest of the Christians United for Israel national summit in Washington. The marchers sought to offer an alternative vision of freedom and interfaith collaboration while demanding an end to U.S. support for the Israeli military.