I’m a big fan of Freddie deBoer’s writing. His book The Cult of Smart is a persuasive critique of the meritocratic ideals proclaimed by defenders of American capitalism. His essay Planet of Cops is one of the best things that’s been written about the moralistic and censorious trends that increasingly…
People keep asking me what I think about Dave Chappelle’s new standup comedy special, The Closer. Before I go any further, I should probably say something about why I’m getting this question.
If the people asking were friends of mine who hung out and got high and watched funny shit…
An admittedly grumpy composite portrayal of every conversation I’ve ever had with a “prison abolitionist”:
Me: “I think the American prison system is vile and indefensible. We lock up way way too many people for way way too long and there are tons of people in prison right now should…
After Joe Biden took the oath of office on January 20, he delivered an inaugural address that centered on the importance of bipartisan “unity.” This, he suggested, was as important to him as emancipation had been to Abraham Lincoln.
The speech was delivered to a small crowd of politicians wearing…
The title, from T. S. Eliot, is simultaneously fitting and ill-fitting. Quentin Smith, the American philosopher, is gone. His work, notably in the philosophy of time, will go on.
Noah Berlatsky claims in his article Why Class First Leftists are Wrong that I advocate something called “class first leftism.” This came as a surprise to me.
By the time I got to the end of the article, I felt a little bit like Jimmy Shorts in Martin Scorcese’s gangster…
I am not a fan of MSNBC. Like a lot of leftists, I find the network almost as annoying as centrist liberals and their Never Trump allies find Fox News and OANN. …
A friend recently sent me some screenshots from his neighborhood Facebook group. Everyone there was outraged that the local beer place hadn’t issued any sort of statement condemning police violence and expressing solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
The website of the establishment in question mentions “a grassy backyard,” brags about…
I’m a democratic socialist. I’ve spent a lot of time debating libertarians. But we don’t disagree about everything. Every time I chat with libertarian comedian and podcaster Dave Smith, for example, we agree on things like drug legalization, mass incarceration, and America’s seemingly endless wars in the Middle East.
The…
Once the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination narrowed to two candidates, voters faced a stark choice. One of the candidates regularly invoked the successes of Scandinavian countries, places that have spent decades successfully beta-testing reforms like socialized healthcare, postal banking, and more union-friendly labor laws—the very reforms the candidate…
