The young Bernie Sanders was an oddball and a perennial candidate. But even then, he saw a reality other politicians ignored.
Ideas and Culture
Essays and criticism on ideas and culture: the history, arguments, and cultural shifts behind American politics and public life. Includes our Books coverage, with reviews and essays on the new books shaping debates over policy, history, and democracy.
Posted inMagazine
The Unraveling Right
The MAGA movement is fracturing between donors, intellectuals, influencers, and an increasingly radical base.
Posted inMagazine
Inside the Fight to Revive American Civics
The right wants to erase unpleasant history, while the left talks of nothing else. Is there a middle ground?
Posted inMagazine
Amnesty Transactional
While almost every president has granted a few dodgy pardons, Donald Trump’s abuse of the godlike constitutional authority has no parallel in American history.
Posted inMagazine
How New York City Got Safe
A historical reconstruction of the Big Apple’s crime decline, told from inside the institutions responsible for public safety.
Posted inMagazine
The Kalven Trap
University leaders are increasingly clinging to “viewpoint diversity” and institutional neutrality in the face of MAGA assaults. This is a mistake.
Posted inMagazine
The Scandal About Scandals
A new book says polarization breeds impunity. But America’s worst injustices emerged when the parties got along too well.
Posted inPolitics
What Senator Robert F. Kennedy Could Teach Donald Trump
The slain U.S. senator, like his martyred brother, knew how important it was to concede defeat—a lesson Trump still hasn’t learned.
Posted inPolitics
What Is the “American Contradiction”?
Paul Starr on the deeper historical roots of what will be called the Trump Era—whether we like it or not.
Posted inNovember/December 2025
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.
