Dana Goldstein

In upstate New York in 1997, an HIV-positive man named Nushawn Williams was accused of knowingly spreading the disease to 13 women and girls, some junior high-aged, and to three resulting babies. He was later convicted of statutory rape and reckless endangerment, and received a four to 12 year prison sentence. AIDS activists saw Williams […]

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to whether Hillary Clinton would make a good secretary of state. First of all, to those who are saying Clinton’s support for the Iraq war should disqualify her, I’d urge them to take a deep breath. John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, and almost everybody else being considered for […]

Emily Bazelon and Rebecca Traister are debating the image and reality of Michelle Obama. Traister criticizes Michelle’s “mom-ification” by the media. There’s no doubt that’s been happening. But the source for the momification isn’t just media conservatism — the message is coming in large part directly from the Obama team. Folks like Valerie Jarrett are […]

This Election Day, the New Hampshire State Senate became the only state legislative body in the nation that is majority female, with 13 female senators out of 24. Good news, but a reminder of how far we have to go in every other state in the nation and at the national level, where just 17 […]

The New York Times has an interactive feature allowing readers to draft an imaginary Obama Cabinet. So who do Times readers support? Gaffe-centric Bill Richardson for state (Hillary is currently runner-up), Paul Volcker for treasury, Bush critic Richard Clarke for Homeland Security, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as AG, and keeping Robert Gates in place at […]

According to Politico, Micahel Barone, the influential pundit and co-author of the Almanac of American Politics, told about 500 people yesterday that “the liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. … They wanted her to kill that child. … I’m talking about my media colleagues with whom I’ve […]

Some jokesters have built a fake New York Times homepage for July 4, 2009, imagining a progressive America. The biggest news of the day is a withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. My favorite headlines: New York Bike Path System Expanded Dramatically All Public Universities to be Free Public Relations Industry Forecasts a […]

Now that the election is over, all of our brains are free to consider a broad range of topics beyond electoral politics. Thank goodness, right? I was fascinated by a piece from yesterday’s Science Times about an experimental and mostly, so far, untested theory of genetics. It posits that autism, schizophrenia, and most other psychiatric […]

In his post on affirmative action today, Adam writes, “No one has to know that a white person applying for a job grew up in a trailer park or project housing, so class based discrimination is practically irrelevant.” I disagree. Classism can be quite ugly, even in the absence of race or gender-based discrimination. A […]

There’s been lots of discussion during the past week about the future of conservatism. David Brooks and First Read consider the topic today. In short, the GOP can’t continue to appeal primarily to less educated, Southern, rural, and racist voters in an age of increasing education levels, diversity, tolerance, and migration back into cities and […]