In this issue:

Features

Democracy’s Moment of Reckoning

If we lose the fight to protect voting rights, we'll lose everything else, too.

By Osita Nwanevu

Our 250-Year Fight for Multiracial Democracy 

We say we’re for it. We’ve never truly had it. These next few years will determine its fate. 

By Matt Ford

China Is Proud of Its Covid Response. But Taiwan’s Was Better. 

How the island nation charted a path between Chinese authoritarianism and Western chaos 

By Dan Xin Huang

Our Friend, the Trump Propagandist 

We knew David Horowitz when he was a radical leftist. Then he became a conservative. Then he joined the MAGA cult. 

By Ronald Radosh and Sol Stern

A New “War on Terrorism” Is the Wrong Way to Fight Domestic Extremists 

One was a State Department official. The other was in the Army. Their stories show why we don’t need post-9/11 tactics to root out far-right threats. 

By Hannah Gais

Signs & Wonders

The Progressive Trio Shaping Biden’s Ambitious Economic Policy 

How three combative, unconventional economists forced the president to abandon his neoliberal ways. 

By Bryce Covert

Can a Hate Crimes Bill Stop the Rising Violence Against Asian Americans? 

Representative Grace Meng of New York wants to curb anti-Asian racism, but activists for defunding the police say her bill won’t solve anything. 

By Vivian Ho

Why Is Greg Gutfeld Still on Television? 

The steady rise of the longtime Fox News host is a reflection not of his comedic abilities, but the increasingly dark mood of conservative media. 

By Jake Bittle

Why the Democrats Need an Architectural Vision to Counter the Right’s 

Republicans are already advancing a distinct—if ugly and tasteless—aesthetic. Biden should follow in FDR’s footsteps and create a Public Works Administration for the twenty-first century. 

By Kate Wagner

Why “Social Justice” Triggers Conservatives 

They loathe any words that imply an obligation to their fellow human beings. 

By John Patrick Leary

Are Liberal Cities Turning Against Their Progressive Prosecutors? 

District attorneys in San Francisco and Philadelphia promised to overturn decades of tough-on-crime policies. Now, as violent crime rises, they may be kicked out of office. 

By Nikhil Pal Singh

Books & The Arts

The Professor Who Became a Cop 

Rosa Brooks wanted to fix law enforcement. She decided to become a police officer. 

By Patrick Blanchfield

Octavia Butler Wanted to Write a “Yes” Book 

In her fiction, she questioned every social and sexual arrangement. 

By Stephanie Burt

The Climate Case for Property Destruction 

Andreas Malm’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline urges activists to turn to tougher tactics. 

By Benjamin Kunkel 

The Coming Revolution in the American Economy 

In the Biden era, the Reaganite consensus is finally breaking down. 

By Ganesh Sitaraman

The Other Black Girl Reinvents the Office Novel 

Zakiya Dalila Harris’s psychological thriller grapples with ambition and inequality in the workplace. 

By Lovia Gyarkye

A Holocaust Documentary Interviews the Perpetrators 

Luke Holland’s film Final Account makes a study of evasion, denial, and self-justification among living participants in Hitler’s Third Reich. 

By Lidija Haas