The Wisconsin Idea

Cover StoryInvestigationGoodman Institute

In Small-Town Georgia, A Broken Taillight Can Lead to Spiraling Debt

Reforms to curb predatory private probation haven’t worked.

Nick Barber

Labor

Starbucks Union Files Labor Complaint Claiming Store Closures Are Retaliation

The coffee chain has announced it’s closing 16 stores, including some that have recently unionized. Workers say it’s coercion against labor organizing.

Maxwell Parrott

Labor

America Is Breaking the Bargain It Made For Labor Peace

The right wing is starving the government of its ability to guarantee worker rights. Will we let them get away with it?

Hamilton Nolan

Viewpoint

Forcing People to Work So They Can Get a Child Tax Credit Is a Terrible Idea

Work requirements don’t actually increase employment or reduce poverty. But Republicans and conservative Democrats are pushing them anyway.

Jim Pugh

Labor

The Federal Reserve’s Answer to Inflation Is Class War

The conventional medicine for fighting inflation is to make workers pay. And that is what the Federal Reserve, with Joe Biden’s approval, is planning to do.

Hadas Thier

Culture

An Iranian Artist in Exile Turns Her Camera to the West

Shirin Neshat explores how the government invades our dreams.

Matt A. Hanson

Culture

Frustrated With #GirlBoss Feminism? Look to Eastern European History

In Red Valkyries Kristen Ghodsee interrogates the false promise of liberal feminism.

Brianna Di Monda

Feature

The Remarkable and Entirely Underappreciated Achievements of the EPA

The Supreme Court is gutting an agency that has a measurable history of saving lives.

Branko Marcetic

Feature

Did This Supreme Court Just Issue a Progressive Ruling on Immigration? Sort Of.

The MPP ruling will bring immediate relief for migrants stuck in Mexico, but doesn't signal anything humane about the court.

Adrian Rennix