Politics
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One Hell of a Gap
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. An updated graph showing the income share of America’s top %0.01 from 1913 through 2007 reveals that income inequality is currently at a “truly amazing” level. Just something to…
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The Lures of a Younger Land
I live in a young country but it seems like we’ve aged like no other place in the world, despite our obscene superabundance. Nowhere is this more apparent than in what we eat and how we eat. And right now…
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Real Choice in Afghan Election
A look at the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary, author of Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. I have this recurring nightmare in which my life has gone so wrong, I’ve become the…
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A Reaction Sauce
Yesterday we linked to Malcolm Gladwell‘s most recent New Yorker essay, “The Courthouse Ring,” in which Gladwell discusses Atticus Finch, Alabama Governer “Big Jim” Folsom, race, and “the limits of Southern liberalism.” Well over at The Millions Garth Risk Hallberg…
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Afghanistan Rocks the Vote
We’re not ones to write about pop stars, but NPR is reporting that Afghan “musical hero” Farhad Darya is performing numerous free concerts “to encourage his countrymen to vote in the upcoming presidential election.” On Tuesday night Darya’s show in…
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Gladwell on Finch
“If Finch were a civil-rights hero, he would be brimming with rage at the unjust verdict. But he isn’t. He’s not Thurgood Marshall looking for racial salvation through the law. He’s Jim Folsom, looking for racial salvation through hearts and…
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Why Writers Should Not Run for Office
In this article about the political fortunes of writer, country singer and gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, The Guardian reminds us that if history is any indication, writers should be wary of entering politics. “Consider the case of George Bernard Shaw,…
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A Field Guide To Military Urbanism
“I mean, when you’re forced to smuggle, by sheer necessity of survival, due to forces completely outside of your own control, when the power to decide your own destiny has been taken from you (as a nation), can it really…
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One Widow’s Mural for Health Care
“These days you can usually find Regina Holliday in a parking lot between the BP station and the CVS near the Politics and Prose bookstore. She’s painting a 20-foot-high mural, showing her husband on his deathbed, to draw attention to…
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An Agrarian Revolution In Detroit (And Oakland)
“Were I an aspiring farmer in search of fertile land to buy and plow, I would seriously consider moving to Detroit. There is open land, fertile soil, ample water, willing labor, and a desperate demand for decent food. And there…
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Over at the Splinter Generation
“It starts to put the world in perspective. You start meeting real people. You meet moms, and you meet children, and you meet dads, and uncles, and grandpas, and you know, the people that I consider to be heroes. I…
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The Afghan Women’s Writing Project
After visiting Afghanistan for the second time last year, the novelist Masha Hamilton started the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. The project connects Afghan women with American writers and teachers and gives the women space on the blog to share their stories.…