Breaking the Habit: Can the US Kick a Century of Drug Dependence?
In Quick Fixes, Benjamin Y. Fong explores America’s stubborn addiction to drugs and looks beyond failed drug wars for a way to break the habit once and for all.
capitalism
Succession’s Final Season of Satire and Calamity Offers No Parting Panacea
Succession, HBO’s most lauded release of the decade solidifies its place as one of TV’s best dramas, even though it shares nothing positive about our capitalist world.
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ and the Politics of Genre
In genre-busting sci-fi Everything Everywhere All At Once, the multiverse is not a genre but a metaphor that invites audiences to think about the complexities and politics of genres.
Work or Die? ‘Death Panel’ Podcasters Propose ‘Health Communism’
Death Panel podcasters and Health Communism authors argue that the unemployed, maligned, “burdens” of the state are essential to capitalism’s ill-gotten profit.
The Elites Who Are Just So Over Humanity
The depth of anti-humanist sentiment related by Douglas Rushkoff in his latest book, Survival of the Richest, is harrowing and illuminating.
‘Alien’, Aristotle, and the Ruthless Forces That Control Us
Imagine Aristotle sitting in a movie theater in 1979 with his tub of popcorn. If you think he would scoff at Alien‘s outlandish monster, think again.
Ousmane Sembène’s Vibrant Political Satire ‘Mandabi’ Pokes at Imperial Conquest
Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi (1968) unravels Senegal’s post-colonial entanglements and centers African people, places, and experiences at every frustrating step.
Capitalism Chemistry or ‘Drug Use for Grown-ups’
Our capitalist language of minute gradations and improvised adjustments—of the plasticity of bodies and minds—places drugs in the service of economies of labor, production, and value.
Automation and the Future of Work (excerpt)
In Automation and the Future of Work, Aaron Benanav uncovers the structural economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future. In this excerpt, courtesy of Verso Books, he considers what’s on our minds these days, “What if everyone suddenly had access to enough healthcare, education, and welfare to reach their full potential?”
Plattetopia: The Prefabrication of Utopia in East Berlin
With the fall of the Berlin Wall came the licence to take a wrecking ball to its nightmare of repression. But there began the unwritten violence of Die Wende, the peaceful revolution that hides the Oedipal violence of one order killing another.
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COVID-19 Is but One Indication of the Return of the Pandemic Monster
Mike Davis' COVID-era update about emerging flu pandemics, The Monster Enters, is concise, disturbing, and valuable.
Halle Butler’s ‘Jillian’ Is a Frank Account of Discontent
Evoking both sarcasm and empathy, Butler paints Jillian and Megan as harbingers of a relatable alienation.