We need to talk about so-called “human rights.” Is there something unique about being a homo sapien, such that killing a human is murder and killing a cow is just part of economic life? Ethical vegans seem to think otherwise. And what of the rapid progress being made in the area of artificial intelligence? Will […]
Artificial Accountability
On February 28th, 2026, the world was processing the most shocking turn of events. The United States had launched Operation “Epic Fury” in coordination with Israel. Maybe sometimes people forget that the people whom they want you to believe are the “enemy” are regular humans just like us. At about 10 AM Iranian Standard Time […]
This District Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us
During summer 2025, Gerrymandering felt like it was at the center of the universe; at least it did to me, an intern in D.C. for my congressman who had just been offered a job to stay on as his campaign director. It all started when Texas proposed legislation to redraw its congressional districts for the […]
Indian Rock
On my grandfather’s farm, a rock sits aloneWith an Indian’s face carved into the stone.From around this tomb, grandpa dug up the bones,Of some old, old people that once called our land home. Maybe they were Shawnee, maybe KaskaskiaFrom a time before they shrank into Indiana.When we settled this land, we bred them out of […]
Who Is Speaking?: Free Speech and Identity in the Age of AI
Since 1776, the American commitment to free speech has always been remarkable. The First Amendment does not only protect popular ideas–it protects offensiveness, anonymity, and dissent. It reaffirms that the best response to bad speech is more speech, not enforced silence. Today, we are facing a technological shift. As AI lowers the cost of producing […]
The Aesthetics of the Trump White House
From red hats to spray tans, Donald Trump has made his look unavoidable. More nefariously, the imagery of the Trump administration has been central to projecting its distinct flavor of white Christian nationalism. Interpreting the ongoing White House renovations through an art historical lens offers one way to grasp Trump’s unfolding authoritarian project. Art and […]
The Erosion of the Federal Reserve as a Regionally Representative Institution
The Federal Reserve of the United States (the Fed) was established in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act with the aim of stabilizing prices and promoting maximum employment through monetary policy. This act was passed in hopes of reducing the frequency of financial panics following the Panic of 1873, the Panic of 1893, and the […]
You’re Going to Burn in Hell
“Anyone who harms these good men is going to burn. God Bless our Agents. Glad to see brave young men defending Christian values!” Those are the words of my religious education teacher, whom we shall call Mrs. X. Her strongly worded sentiment was in reaction to a Facebook post of protestors in Minneapolis resisting U.S. […]
Effingham Cross
Paul Bunyan’s in the market for an ox that’s new;Ol’ Babe the Blue is done & through—Killed over in Illinois just last June. So Paul built a cross 200 feet tallAnd dragged it from Springfield on an 88 mile haul. And Pontius Pilate Pritzker gave him 40 lickswith the aid of the State House Majority […]
Binding Success to Home Through Siva Afi
We have been taught, quietly and relentlessly, that success takes a singular form. In the West, especially in spaces of prestigious academia such as our own, after all, the capitalist program does not announce itself as ideology. It presents itself as inevitability. It trains students to believe that worth is measured by mobility, that greater […]