“We are going directly to hell.” That was the trajectory newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras predicted for Greece in 2012 if it were to continue under austerity measures imposed by the eurozone. Tsipras’ leftist Syriza party launched itself into power during last month’s parliamentary elections on a promise to “end the vicious cycle of … Read more
In mid-1950s, the Italian-American criminal organization known as Cosa Nostra was enjoying the peak of its political influence and economic success. At the time, many questioned the organization’s presence. J. Edgar Hoover completely denied its existence for years. And unfortunately for the criminals describing themselves as “businessmen,” their reign atop the criminal underworld was swiftly … Read more
The circumstances that landed Princeton professor and author Cornel West and activist-clergyman Osagyefo Sekou in the St. Louis County jail on October 13 could have been avoided. But that would have defeated the point. West journeyed to Missouri from his teaching post at Union Theological Seminary with the explicit intention of ending up in the … Read more
Nigel Farage forecast “an earthquake in British politics” ahead of the 2014 European Union elections, but who could predict that across the Channel, the Spanish Podemos (We Can) party would cause similar tremors? Within three months of its founding, Podemos burst onto the political center stage in the 2014 European elections with 8 percent of … Read more
Nigel Farage forecast “an earthquake in British politics” ahead of the 2014 European Union elections, but who could predict that across the Channel, the Spanish Podemos (We Can) party would cause similar tremors? Within three months of its founding, Podemos burst onto the political center stage in the 2014 European elections with 8 percent of … Read more
A throat clears, a voice murmurs. The hurried words beat against my eardrum in staccato indignation, toppling, as notes often do, into and through each other. I fear that I’ve misheard. “Can you repeat that?” I ask into my cell phone. William Deresiewicz replies, “Homi Bhabha is a malevolent buffoon.” Bhabha, director of Harvard’s Mahindra … Read more
Traditionally, school districts carefully and conscientiously compile reading lists from the “Western canon,” whose most ubiquitous works include the Odyssey and the plays of William Shakespeare. The existence of such a canon allows students across all of America to share a common literary heritage; most incoming freshmen at any university could bond over the experience … Read more
Growing up near Bowl Canyon on the Navajo Nation Reservation, Damon Clark ‘17 would play cowboys and Indians. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be the cowboy, because the cowboy kills the Indian,” he says. “You know who wins, and you know who loses.” The cowboy-Indian divide is not so black and white … Read more
On January 3, 2013, newly-reelected Rep. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona’s 9th District stood before John Boehner and placed her hand not on the Bible, as 112 congressional classes before her had, but rather on a worn copy of the U.S. Constitution. In so doing, Sinema became the only nominally unreligious representative in Congress as well … Read more
It’s a regular April day in Jackson, Mississippi, but those with a keen eye for detail might notice the bright blue stickers adorning the windows of Campbell’s Bakery, William Wallace Salon, Fat Cat Ceramics, and more than 13 other establishments. Sporting the slogan, “If you’re buying, we’re selling,” these stickers symbolize the efforts of Mitchell … Read more