A (Not-So-Brief) Rundown of the Best Show on TV

Following an evening of serious number crunching, tough algorithms, and even tougher decisions, the 2016 Presidential campaign report cards are finally in. Now that the dust has settled on last Monday’s historic and exciting presidential primary in New Hampshire, the candidates are gearing up for the next showdowns in South Carolina and Nevada. Some candidates […]

The Neoliberal University

Last month at Northeastern University, the adjunct union reached a tentative agreement with the university administration to avert a planned walkout after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations. Those familiar with the adjunct campaign know that adjunct professors are contingent workers who comprise more than half of the teaching staff at Northeastern and are […]

In Defense of Young Women Who Support Sanders

I am a woman. I am an independent voter who leans liberal. I am a feminist. And I support Bernie Sanders. Because of that, according to the first female secretary of state Madeleine Albright, there’s a “special place in Hell for” me.[1] According to Gloria Steinem, a leader of the feminist movement, I’m only supporting […]

For Some Reason I’m Not Concerned: Bernie Sanders vs. The Democratic Spin Machine

In a November 2003 Believer magazine interview, American author David Foster Wallace (who once profiled John McCain’s 2000 Republican primary campaign for Rolling Stone) was asked of his opinion on U.S. political writing around the turn of the century. “As of 2003, the rhetoric of the enterprise is fucked,” the late writer said to interviewer […]

For Some Reason I’m Not Concerned

Okay, so, I finally did it. For way longer than I thought possible, I stayed away from the 21-minute political masterpiece that you’ve all been raving so much about. I’m proud of how long I resisted this thing, as it was teasing my interest nonstop from all over the Internet, silently lurking around every shadowy […]

A Year On: What Did the Umbrella Revolution Achieve?

On the morning of June 5th, 1989, a man in a white shirt stood in front of a military armored tank in one of the most iconic photographs of that year. The same year that the Poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Germans, and the Romanians overthrew their communist oppressors, the people of China attempted […]

Confusion’s Masterpiece: The argument we’re actually having about gun control

The scene is unusual. President Barack H. Obama is seated inside George Mason University’s Johnson Center in Fairfax, Virginia, postured sort of awkwardly, plopped on a high leather chair, itself upholstered in deep crimson, positioned at room center. The President is well lit and sporting a finely tailored suit jacket, unbuttoned, a long and double-Windsored […]

Syrian Refugee Crisis: Where is the Humanity?

In the past week, I’ve watched in horror and bitter disappointment as governors from the two states I call home, New Jersey and Massachusetts, proclaimed that they will not accept Syrian refugees. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey became a leading voice for the opposition to the federal government’s plan for Syrian refugee resettlement, even […]

The Grand Old Party v. The Supreme Court

The American presidency has ramifications far beyond the executive branch. It can lend the victor’s party a boost in Congress, influence statewide elections, and have deep repercussions in foreign countries. But what a lot of people often forget is that the presidency also affects the judiciary—perhaps most directly—as all federal judges are appointed by the […]