Earlier this week, TikTok sued the U.S. government over the potential ban that could go into effect as soon as 2025. Experts expect this legal battle will go all the way to the Supreme Court. As various players prepare for this epic showdown, our latest Instaread considers the history of how the U.S. and China have […]
Is social justice making progress?
Modern identity politics has gotten out of hand. At least that’s the argument of Yascha Mounk, public intellectual and professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University. He says that American culture has shifted into an obsession with group identity that stifles dialogue and promotes division. A Changing World Over the past few decades, the […]
Are values more important than power?
In U.S. government, we don’t see a lot of critique of Donald Trump from the right. One exception is Liz Cheney, who was the third-most powerful Republican in the House of Representatives when she voted to have Trump impeached in 2021. The bad news is that move cost her reelection. The good news is that […]
The Founding Father who lived for drama
The United States celebrates George Washington as its first president and the Fourth of July as the country’s birthday. You hear less about Samuel Adams, the Founding Father who fomented the American Revolution. One reason? Revolutions are messy, and the guys who get their hands dirty aren’t necessarily respectable. Fake News Is Nothing New To […]
The war on wokeness
Senator Ted Cruz says that the United States has a huge problem. That problem isn’t mass shootings, or the rising cost of health care, or the wealth gap. No, the biggest threat right now in Cruz’s eyes is the “woke” — Marxist Democrats who have too much influence on American society. Our latest release looks at […]
Where do conspiracy theories come from?
Between the US government threatening to ban TikTok in the near future and whatever’s going on with Kate Middleton, misinformation and social media influence are trending topics again. After social scientist Dan Ariely found himself on the receiving end of weird conspiracy theories online, he took a long look at what causes people to become […]
Was January 6 a sequel?
Rachel Maddow has spent a lot of time discussing the events of January 6, 2021, on MSNBC. But that was not the first time that the United States has faced the threat of a coup. In her latest bestseller, Maddow rewinds to the 1930s and ’40s, when American fascists attempted to replace the US government […]
A hard look at the religious right
Has Christianity been hijacked by far-right conservatives? That’s the argument of journalist Tim Alberta, a Christian whose father was an evangelical pastor. Alberta says that the pursuit of power has overshadowed spiritual missions in many of these communities. His new book explores the conflict between authentic faith and political identity. Losing Ground The term “evangelical” […]
America’s political spectacle
Is anyone looking forward to the U.S. presidential election in November? Anyone, that is, apart from Donald Trump, who has emerged from relative seclusion at Mar-a-Lago to, alternatively, appear in court and campaign. Often, he seems to be doing both at once. Our latest Instaread checks in. A New Form of Fundraising? Trump’s latest campaign […]
Inside a failed assassination attempt
It was nearly 3 a.m. when the bomb detonated. The Irish Republican Army’s assassination attempt on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 was unsuccessful, but five other people were killed. Our latest release chronicles the events leading up to the near miss. A Near-Perfect Plan Only one sitting British prime minister had been successfully […]
