On the fourth anniversary of the pandemic, a look at how America pulled apart as the rest of the world pulled together
Rick Perlstein
Rick Perlstein is the author of a four-volume series on the history of America’s political and cultural divisions, and the rise of conservatism, from the 1950s to the election of Ronald Reagan. He lives in Chicago.
Posted inLaw and Justice
The Spectacle of Policing
‘Swatting’ innocent people is the latest incarnation of the decades-long gestation of an infrastructure of fear.
Posted inPolitics
Kissinger Revisited
The former secretary of state is responsible for virtually every American geopolitical disaster of the past half-century.
Posted inAmerica and the World
The Neglected History of the State of Israel
The Revisionist faction of Zionism that ended up triumphing adhered to literal fascist doctrines and traditions.
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
A Cultural Artifact That Meets the Moment
Stephen King’s ‘Under the Dome’ nails how Trumpism functions at the most elemental of levels.
Posted inPolitics
The REAL Threat at Our Border
Trump, Republican governors, and MAGA media have summoned their armed fanatics to the Rio Grande.
Posted inPolitics
American Fascism
Author and scholar John Ganz on how Europe’s interwar period informs the present
Posted inPolitics
Metaphors Journalists Live By (Part II)
The conclusion of our story of the bad things that can happen when journalists refuse to criticize themselves
Posted inPolitics
Metaphors Journalists Live By (Part I)
One of the reasons political journalism is so ill-equipped for this moment in America is because of its stubborn adherence to outdated frames.