The rise of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic Party mark a reemergence of progressive politics in the American Left. Although they do share similar policies, Dustin Guastella claims that Warren represents the interests of "liberal professionals" – the white-collar class that has marginalized working-class interests for the past fifty years.
Bill Buford writes about his experience as an apprentice in a bakery in Lyon, France. After failing to secure a job at one of the city's top tier restaurants, he turns toward his neighborhood bakery and finds a passion he didn't know he had.
What is the future of American democracy? Headlines posit that it's failing and there is nothing we can do about it. Jill Lepore takes us back to the 1930s when democracies around the world were truly in peril, and argues that with civic-mindedness we can write our own future.
What does $100 mean to you? A rotisserie chicken at Costco costs $5. A bottle of water $1.50. A gallon of gasoline $4. These goods may seem expensive, or they may seem unimaginably cheap considering the effort and resources that go into producing them.
William Faulkner produced some of the best, most insightful American writing in our nation's history. But it is primarily concerened with a South grappeling with economic, social, and racial issues following the Civil War, and Faulkner's life and personal views certainly call his writing into question.
What would it look like for a small, family farm to turn from growing mass-produced commodities such as corn, wheat, and beans to growing native wildflowers? M. H. Perry gives us a first-hand account of what her farm went through, giving us a wonderful and inspiring glimpse of rural America.
Sesame Street was created during a time of abundant government spending in social and educational projects. Not too long after, the Reagan years brought deregulation and enormous cuts in public spending. How did it hold up?
Seth Ackerman moderates a debate on populism between some prominent political scientists. They discuss how the Left's shift towards centrist economic policies has opened up an opportunity for Right wing parties to appeal to working-class voters.
