Culture

Top Four Reads for the Red Centennial

Books about Bolsheviks.

In These Times Staff

Where Have All the Communes Gone?

Dusting off the dirty hippie.

Jessa Crispin

Single-Payer Healthcare In 5 Minutes Or Less

Everyone is getting behind this prescription for a better healthcare system. But what is it exactly?

Dayton Martindale

How a Small-Town Theater Project Became a Study in Post-Industrial Life

The new documentary Spettacolo captures a Tuscan village’s annual play.

Michael Atkinson

Native Art Beyond “Ponies in a Sunset”

An interview with artist Luzene Hill.

Micco Caporale

Democratic Socialism in 5 Minutes or Less

From Rosa Luxemburg to Bernie Sanders, a beginner’s guide.

Dayton Martindale

Sword-and-Sorcery Into Plowshares: Game of Thrones’ Anti-War Message

The hit HBO drama makes a carefully constructed argument for the futility of war.

Sean T. Collins

Judginess Built the Middle Class

A new book explores the 19th-century origins of middle-class respectability—and the misfits kept out of the club.

Margaret Garb

Heart of Whiteness: The Stories Western Philanthropists Tell Themselves

Why do Western efforts to help the environment and Africa so often fail?

Laura Orlando

At the Bullfrog, Those Left Behind by the Global Economy Find Relief—and a Place to Talk Trump

In a Jamestown, N.Y., hotel and bar, down-and-out former factory workers seek solidarity and camaraderie—often expressed in shared rants about immigrants or liberals.

Kari Lydersen

The White-Supremacist Roots of America’s Libertarian Right

The history of Koch-style libertarian economics is steeped in racism.

Chris Lehmann

War for the Planet of the Apes Lacks the Courage of Its Convictions

Koba should've won.

Eileen Jones

Before Punk, Skiffle Music Gave Voice to a Working Class That Wanted to Dance

Billy Bragg's new book explores the blue-collar precursor to the British Invasion sound.

Micco Caporale

The Abolitionist of Walden Pond

Two hundred years after his birth, Henry David Thoreau is as relevant as ever.

Dayton Martindale

Sorry, Tories: Jeremy Corbyn’s Success Is a Win for the Anti-Austerity Movement

British progressives have a long fight ahead. But for now, we're breathing a collective sigh of relief.

Jane Miller

The Frustrating Yet Beautiful Drama of “A Ghost Story”

Filmmaker David Lowery's latest is slow, but contains a few genuine spiritual ideas.

Michael Atkinson

Squatters’ 60-Year War Against Private Property

How propertied classes team up with the state to forcibly evict urban squatters.

Margaret Garb

The Fairy Tales Capitalists Tell Themselves

The new book The Wisdom of Money amounts to morale-boosting capitalist agitprop.

Chris Lehmann