Jason Irwin: Blaze of Glory
I remember sitting on the floor watching my parents dance to Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” their bodies bending and gyrating as Checker called out: “Round and round and up and down we go” like a shaman, beckoning them to partake in this ritual of body and soul…
Patricia Nugent: No Time for Memes
There is a current meme imploring us not to lose friends over politics. This is becoming impossible for me. I would not have been able to continue a friendship with someone who began wearing a swastika armband in the late 1930s.
Michael Simms: Politics as a Spiritual Practice
Those of us who wish to follow a spiritual path cannot ignore the malevolent policies of our government.
Frida Berrigan: The Art of the Submarine
Each of those future billion-dollar behemoths could menace the world with the equivalent of 5,824 Hiroshimas.
Rebecca Gordon: What Did We Know?
Ignoring the clanging alarms, many media outlets continue to treat the 2024 election season as just another contest between two equally legitimate political parties.
Jason Irwin: A Slice of the American Dream
After my parents’ divorce was made official and my mother was forced to return to the workforce, we suddenly were labeled low-income.
Baron Wormser: After Poetry Month
The poet tries to be canny while practicing an uncanny art.
Video: Earthsea | What the Original Wizard School Got Right
What are the literary origins of the boy wizard and the wizard school? This video takes us on an adventure through 20th century fantasy literature to explore the roots of this trope, the connection between Lord of the Rings, Earthsea and Harry Potter, and how race, feminism, gay wizards and bi witches feature in this universe.
Christian Appy: UMass Arrests | What Would Daniel Ellsberg Do?
I am quite sure he would have been, as I am, deeply inspired by the passion of these young students.
Jeffrey Sterling: A Whistleblower’s First Post-Prison Trip Abroad
I wasn’t on that stage just to scare the audience about how horrible it will be to be charged under the Espionage Act, I was there to tell them that if I could stand up against it, so can the rest of the world.
Gerald Fleming: On Ascension Thursday
Young prodigy. Has a way with words. Brings someone out of a coma. Preaches peace, rages against bankers, tries his hand at carpentry, sexy woman loves him, meets his friends for dinner every week, they drink wine, talk, he says smart things, then, random as the rest of us, he’s killed. Gets to ascend to heaven.
Baron Wormser: Era of Ill Will
It’s easier to be against something than to be for something, particularly since any ideal is bound to have flaws.
Desne A. Crossley: O Rosie Girl
it was one thing for a white man to bed a black woman, but unthinkable that he would marry her. And it was commonplace for a black woman to be forced to open her legs to her employer or his sons. But Martha married white and returned home with the man!
Baron Wormser: The System
Humankind never has been very aware of the consequences of their group actions, perhaps because large groups, in particular, are inherently thoughtless.
