This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: The Baffler
9/22/2020
In 1993, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, consensual same-sex relationships were decriminalized in Russia as the economy underwent a wrenching transition away from central planning. Documentarian William E. Jones documents this moment by splicing together the non-sexual scenes from gay pornography shot in the former Soviet bloc.
Source: New York Times
9/23/2020
After 1960, much of history as many Americans experienced it — through popular culture on TV, on the radio and at the movies — is preserved and easily accessible online. With a few clicks around YouTube, history leaps into the present, often in ways that deepen and complicate the narrative.
Source: Associate Press
9/23/2020
Letters between Donald Trump and Richard Nixon in the 1980s, recently released by the Nixon Library, show the two men bonded over themes that resonate today: a shared distrust of the media, a desire to maximize TV ratings, the idea of using people as “props,” and more.
Source: NPR
9/23/2020
Citigroup's recommendations aren't new: various studies have shown similar findings and experts have called for similar action for years, though so far progress has been slow.
Source: Al Jazeera
9/18/2020
Both celebrities and consumer brands have appropriated the aesthetics of the Black Panther Party and other Black militants, without dealing with the substance of their politics.
Source: Bloomberg
9/20/2020
This announcement continues a Trump tradition of claiming other nations will pay for domestic culture war projects.
Source: New York Times
9/21/2020
The Trump administration has always engaged in rhetorical attacks on Ivy League institutions as elitist, but critics say launching a civil rights investigation of Princeton represents an effort to weaponize executive branch agencies to fight a culture war.
Source: Seattle Times
9/18/2020
Although the guitarist made a global impact on rock music, he left a particular legacy for Black musicians in his hometown of Seattle.
Source: The New Republic
9/21/2020
Danielle Pletka’s historical revision of Jesse Helms’s career shows how Trumpists will rationalize their role in this disastrous presidency.
Source: The Nation
9/21/2020
by Tom Scocca
Independent journalism has been in a decades-long death spiral because "the circulatory system of money that had made the writing possible was punctured and bleeding out, and draining into Silicon Valley."
Source: Inside Higher Education
9/21/2020
The university's reopening plans were at the center of a narrow vote by the university's faculty to declare no confidence in President Mark Schlissel.
Source: Inside Higher Ed
9/21/2020
Some of the terminated faculty members had since chosen to retire, but the result means that the 67 who did not will not be able to return to their jobs.
Source: New York Times
9/22/2020
Law professors Lee Epstein and Eric Posner argue that the conservative bloc on the court has shifted from the libertarianism favored by big business to a more aggressive religious activism.
Source: New York Times
9/22/2020
by Jamelle Bouie
The power of the courts to define the meaning of the Constitution has been challenged by legislative, executive and popular action at different times in American history. If that prospect seems scary, remember that it's the process that overthrew the Dred Scott decision as the law of the land, argues NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie.
Source: Bloomberg CityLab
9/21/2020
by Brentin Mock
The real estate industry has adopted appraisal standards in response to fair housing laws that are, on the surface, race-neutral. But they don't account for the ways that racism has lowered the sale value in diverse neighborhoods, and still penalize Black and Latino homeowners.
Source: CBS News
9/20/2020
A "60 Minutes" interview with former Trump national security adviser H.R. McMaster paints a picture of weakened American leadership and confusion in foreign policy.
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune
9/19/2020
Many Minnesotans took issue with Donald Trump's praise for Robert E. Lee at a rally in Bemidji, particularly because of the role of Minnesota troops in defeating the Confederacy.
Source: National Geographic
9/20/2020
The number of Supreme Court justices is a matter of legislation and custom, not a constitutional mandate. That number has changed across American history.
Source: Lakeland (FL) Ledger
9/20/2020
Richard Harris and Kenneth Stephens committed to Christian demands for forgiveness and reconciliation, and have shared their personal stories in an effort to heal racial divisions.
Source: New York Times
9/20/2020
Robert Graetz was a rare white voice in favor of desegregation and an ally to the organizers of the Montgomery bus boycott.
