United States
Moral Panic, Lurid Fantasies
An unholy alliance of Trump supporters, conservative Christians and QAnon conspiracy theorists is spreading lurid claims about children trafficked for sex (or worse). It doesn't help abused children, but it terrifies parents and draws some of them unwittingly into a world of make-believe.
US Conservatives Debate Israel
The melee is a microcosm of deeper fault lines on the American right, with Carlson representing the isolationist, “America-first” current, and Shapiro the camp of “muscular” national security conservatism and strong U.S. support for Israel, which has been the dominant position within the Republican Party for the last several decades.
The Missing Politics of Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
The absence of the crucial role of policy and bureaucracy does not ruin “Killers of the Flower Moon.” But the film’s visual and aural seductions left me with the sinking realization that this is a whodunit that never gets around to revealing the actual killers of its title.
A Deliberate Political Madness?
The National Institute of Mental Health definition of psychosis speaks of “loss of contact with reality.” That is what is happening. Masses of people, whether unable or unwilling to recognize reality, are substituting nightmarish fantasies generated within their movements, making these into a political force moving millions.
Are Ohio Republicans Hampering Abortion Rights by Attempting to Change Ballot Rules?
The day the Supreme Court overruled Roe, Dr. Marcela Azevedo felt a nauseating pit in her stomach, worried about her patients. With Ohio's maternal mortality rate already on the rise, Azevedo sprung into action. Today, she is one of the thousands of volunteers who have canvassed Ohio’s 44 counties, gathering signatures to put abortion rights on the ballot in November.
Ending the War on Drugs: Inside Oregon’s Controversial Experiment
Oregon has long stood at the forefront of the national effort to roll back the war on drugs. A groundbreaking new drug decriminalization law has received mixed reviews. Some have blamed it for spikes in crime, drug use and homelessness. Others have compared it to the Portuguese experiment that helped bring an HIV epidemic under control.
In the American West, a Clown Motel and a Cemetery Tell a Story of Kitsch and Carnage
A little over a century ago, Tonopah, Nevada, was a bustling silver mining town of about 3,000 residents. Then a mysterious illness decimated the population. The American West is full of these sad or violent places now polished for tourism and consumption.