By presenting judging as pure law untainted by politics, Amy Coney Barrett offers a picture so implausible it makes cynics of us all.
Books
Book reviews and essays from the Washington Monthly on the new books shaping debates over politics, policy, history, and American democracy.
Posted inMagazine
How America’s Tax Code Built an Aristocracy
We say taxes make citizens equal before the state. In practice, they divide them—between those whose income is tracked at the source and those whose wealth is invisible.
Posted inMagazine
Running Out of People
The coming population bust won’t be solved by right-wing pronatalism or left-wing subsidies. It will require confronting how modern life puts parenting out of reach.
Posted inBooks
Constitution in Progress
The most revolutionary part of our founding document is its capacity for change.
Posted inBooks
The Cory Doctorow Doctrine
Why are big tech products getting worse and worse? The critic has some answers about the origins of “enshittification.”
Posted inBooks
Tyranny Is Downstream From the Economy
While the root causes of modern authoritarianism have been hotly debated, studies increasingly point to income inequality as the prime culprit.
Posted inBooks
Hitting His Stride
Nick Thompson was an above-average runner who suddenly, in middle age, started breaking world records—a mysterious success inspired by a complicated relationship with his father.
Posted inBooks
Russia Through a Feminist Lens
Julia Ioffe’s “Motherland,” a much-anticipated memoir and history of Russia, offers an original take on America’s long-time adversary.
Posted inBooks
Measuring the Vibecession
Why top-line federal statistics miss the economic pain average Americans feel.
Posted inBooks
The Eternal Social Justice Summer
A much-maligned new book asks a fair question: Why do the excesses of the left offend voters more than those of the right?
