Last month the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released an exhaustive survey of U.S. Health Care in International Perspective, measuring the United States against sixteen peer countries (other high-income democracies) on a wide range of health outcomes. The results—summed up in …
Of the commercials that debuted at this year’s Super Bowl, one of the most talked about has been “Farmer,” a Dodge truck ad that pays tribute to the salt-of-the-earth middle Americans who work the land. (Check it out here if …
A series of recent articles have brought emotional labor into the spotlight as a fundamental component of today’s service economy, one rigorously enforced by employers and taxing on already strained service workers.
The idea that the privileged can “buy their way into college” has long been a cinematic cliché. While everyone seems to understand intuitively that the rich have an easier time getting into college than the poor, buying your way into …
Contrary to what everyone who loved—or hated—his inaugural address seems to think, President Obama has yet to demonstrate that he is determined to launch a new liberal era. The big speech did gesture in that direction. Obama declared, in the …
There’s been a great deal of controversy over the Brooklyn College Political Science Department’s sponsorship of a panel about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) — it’s now been largely resolved as progressive politicians have backpeddled their criticism. BDS …
The recent decision of the Brooklyn College political science department to co-sponsor an event advocating the Palestine Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), and the loud and angry response to this decision by opponents calling for the cancellation of the …
Comprehensive immigration reform is back on the table. Last week a bipartisan Senate “gang of eight” and President Obama both announced their commitment to get a bill passed that would create a path to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented …
Protein Guilt In recent years, the Andean “miracle grain” quinoa has ascended to superfood stardom at a rate rivaled only by kale. Its rich protein and amino acid contents helped turn it from a Peruvian peasant staple—or an exotic alternative …
It’s not yet a done deal, but the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are on the cusp of a dramatic reversal. The organization announced on Tuesday that, when its leadership meets in Dallas next week for a national board meeting, …
Next Wednesday, February 6 at 6 p.m., Dissent co-editor Michael Walzer and New York Review of Books contributor Yasmine El Rashidi will speak about the state of the Arab Spring. The discussion will take place in the Elebash Recital Hall …
It hasn’t been a good year for American organized labor. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual estimate of union membership in the United States. The graphic below summarizes the major trends, drawing on the work of …
Cross-posted from 972mag.com: 1. The Future Government At the time of writing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s base of Orthodox and right-wing parties has sixty Knesset seats—the same as the potential opposition. Estimates are that the Jewish Home party will finish …
An Unlikely Martyr I’m not going to waste my life fighting over a little issue like copyright. Health care, financial reform—those are the issues that I work on. Not something obscure like copyright law. This was Aaron Swartz’s initial reaction, …
If you go to Metacritic and look up the reviews of Zero Dark Thirty, you’ll come away with the impression that it’s a masterpiece. It has a “metascore” of 95, signifying “universal acclaim.” The New York Times called it “unexpectedly …
