Politics and History

Right-wing provocateur Gavin McInnes

A men's club where "racist" is an insult but "chauvinist" is a mantra.

Eric, president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys, shows off his tattoo, which is part of initiation into the group. Another ritual involves getting punched by other members while reciting breakfast cereal names. Photo taken Oct. 4, 2017.

The right-wing politics and bro culture of The Proud Boys is attracting young, white men nationwide. Founder Gavin McInnes believes “95% of American women” would be happier at home. Where does his vision of “being a man” fit in 2018?

Saddam Hussein

How can someone be a monster — a brutal dictator, a mass murderer, a serial killer — and up close seem like a decent, caring person? What happens when you find yourself liking someone who’s done terrible things?

Eyes everywhere

The personal devices we live with and depend on — our computers, tablets, smartphones and more— all share information about us. Randolph Lewis tells more stories about how we’re being watched in a book called “Under Surveillance.”

Yanis Varoufakis

You’re the finance minister of a small bankrupt nation. It's 2015 and the biggest financial power in Europe is forcing you into a deal you know will ruin your country. What do you do? Yanis Varoufakis said "no."

A ship on the rocks

Who really runs the world? Presidents and prime ministers, or CEOs and bankers? And who’s responsible when everything falls apart?

Still in bed

People in every century, every age have complained about feeling exhausted. What’s changed over time are the explanations. Cultural historian Anna Katharina Schaffner lays them out in her new history of exhaustion, "Exhaustion: A History."

The parthenon

As a French-Tunisian Muslim and political scientist, Nadia Marzouki has come to believe that Americans are actually ambivalent about some of our own sacred values - like freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Even democracy.

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