Dispatches From the Culture Wars — October 6, 2026
- Why the Far Right Gets Elected
- Violent Sexism at Cornell
- The Terrorism Pretext for Repressing Speech
- New Record Hit for Book Bans
- Getting Ready for Midterms — and ICE
- Working in the White House
- Rampant Islamophobia
- The Manufacture of Trad Wives
- A New System of Labor Upends Farmworker Power
- Americans Like Socialism After All
Why the Far Right Gets Elected
By John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus
The far right continues to outperform more traditional conservative parties on social issues and outmaneuver the left on economic positions that were once the latter’s strong point. The far right offers an Old Brown Deal, promising to bring back cheap gas and save all the old jobs. Until the left figures out how to beat that spurious combination, the far right will continue to win.
By Cindy Carcamo, Victoria Hoffmann and Ira Porter, Christian Science Monitor
The Cornell University case is one in a long line of college rape allegations to surge into national headlines in recent years. When these allegations become big national news, three separate systems scramble: the university, the criminal justice system, and the media, which include traditional news outlets and now increasingly social media influencers.
The Terrorism Pretext for Repressing Speech
By Decca Muldowney, New Internationalist
‘Treating direct action protests as terrorism leads to a disproportionate response to the people who are doing it. But it also has serious consequences for the human rights of everyone else because of the speech restrictions that come with it,’ says Tom Southerden, the law and human rights director at Amnesty International UK. ‘Nobody knows where the bottom of this is.’
By Brad Reed, Common Dreams
PEN America released a report on Monday documenting nearly 12,000 book bans involving more than 7,300 individual titles in US schools during the 2025-2026 school year, which the organization said were the largest censorship case numbers it had ever recorded. The state of Texas accounted for more than 8,100 book bans.
Getting Ready for Midterms — and ICE
By Jessica Washington, The Intercept
ICE-watchers-turned-poll-watchers are preparing for the worst. They are turning their new skills against the next authoritarian threat from the Trump administration: election interference. Volunteers who showed up a few months ago asking, “Where do I buy a whistle?” are now trained and committed members of an “ICE Watch” movement.
By Myah Ward, Diana Nerozzi, Sophia Cai, Daniel Lippman and Marcia Brown, Politico
In Trump’s Cabinet, the job description is whatever the president says it is that day, and a secretary’s role can expand or veer with his latest fixation. Unexpected assignments, late-night phone calls seeking their input on matters beyond their official remits and major policy announcements on Truth Social — all can change the course of a secretary’s day, and sometimes a department’s agenda.
By David Crary, Associated Press
Abdul El-Sayed made history this month in Michigan by becoming the first Muslim nominated by the Democratic Party to run for the U.S. Senate. But tensions related to anti-Muslim sentiment have heightened in several communities around the country, where some residents have bitterly opposed proposals to build new mosques.
By Amanda Marcotte, Salon
How hard is it to enjoy your husband’s company? According to content made for Christian conservative women, the heaviest cross they may bear is learning to feel affection for their spouses — or at least fake it well enough to buy some peace at home. That’s what I learned perusing the growing field of influencers offering would-be trad wives advice on how to make MAGA marriages work.
A New System of Labor Upends Farmworker Power
By David Bacon, Barn Raiser
The rise of temporary farmworker visas combined with an increasingly mechanical harvesting process have meant big changes for farmworkers. Where the self-organizing of watermelon crews and lettuce cutters gave them some degree of power to counter grower control, they are losing it to an exploitative new labor system.
Americans Like Socialism After All
By Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time
Forty-three percent of Americans have a positive view of socialism, the highest share since Gallup began tracking the measure since 2010. The latest survey, conducted Aug. 3-24, found that socialism has gained ground as several market-oriented economic concepts have lost favor. It now ranks ahead of big business, which has fallen to a positive rating of 35% from a peak of 58% in 2012.