When it comes to knowledge about blues music, I’m not even on the same planet as Ed Kilgore. But what I DO know is that Etta James is one of my all-time favorites, and she takes a deep dive into a feeling a lot of us have had with this song (the video is terrible, but it’s worth it to hear her sing it live).
Trump’s Dangerous Litmus Test for NIH Grants
An absurd politicization of scientific research that will weaken America.
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The 2026 Kukula Award Winners
The Washington Monthly’s annual award celebrates the best in nonfiction book reviewing and honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the magazine’s beloved books editor.
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by The Editors
Are the Elderly Holding America Back?
A new book treats old age, or ‘gerontocracy,’ as the central crisis of modern politics. The framing obscures more than it explains.
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Remember When We Used to Take World War III Seriously?
In the 1980s, serious people feared World War III and acted to prevent it. Today, our slouch toward World War III is being orchestrated by egotistical sociopaths.
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by Bill Scher
The Return of the Native
Nicholas Lemann’s family history illuminates what it means to be Jewish in America and explains how we choose our religious and ethnic identities.
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The Roberts Court’s Gutting of the Voting Rights Act Nears Completion
Two rulings this year, including one this month, have laid bare the court’s fundamental misinterpretation of the landmark law and the Reconstruction Era Constitutional amendments that transformed America.
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by Jack Rakove
A Liberal Without the Elitism: Robert Coles, RIP
I studied with the late Harvard professor who had a nuanced understanding of class and race in America.
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