In 2022, here are some of the things I wrote for the Prospect:
“The Memo Writer”
Let’s begin with labor. Early in the year, I profiled the NLRB’s new general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, who was (and still is) coming up with ingenious ways to restore workers’ rights.
“Labor’s John L. Lewis Moment”
Later in the year, I co-authored a piece with former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, noting that despite the pro-union ferment of the young, major unions were still refusing to embark on major organizing drives.
“Why Trucking Can’t Deliver the Goods”
In our print issue on the dysfunctions of the nation’s supply chain, I wrote what was really another labor piece, this one about how the deregulation of trucking and de-unionization of truckers had transformed the industry into one that could no longer deliver the goods.
“The Real Republican Dilemma”
Moving into the realm of electoral politics, I plunged into the 2022 exit polls to demonstrate why Republicans had become a post-policy party.
“Why Joe Biden Shouldn’t Run for Re-Election”
And recently, after consulting some actuarial tables, I make a case against Joe Biden—who I think has been a pretty good president—seeking re-election.
“Samuel Alito: The 21st-Century Roger Taney”
On the day the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, I found some appalling similarities between Sam Alito and Roger Taney (who authored the Dred Scott decision).
“Kansans to Alito: F*ck You.”
And on the day that Kansans voted to keep reproductive rights in their constitution, I noted that Americans don’t like having their long-established rights taken away.
“1-2-3-4; We Don’t Want Your F---ing War!”
When Vladimir Putin abruptly began drafting Russian men for his war on Ukraine, I was transported back to Vietnam War days, and wrote about the historic necessity of draft evasion.
“Vinnie, L.A., and Me”
And as a point of personal privilege, when the great Vin Scully died, I wrote about the novelistic and cinematic ways in which Scully narrated baseball games, about the ways in which he helped Los Angeles cohere as a modern metropolis, and about the role he completely unintentionally played in turning me into a writer.
