The Wisconsin Idea

Culture

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

Feature

Holding Your Ground Against Austerity: Lessons from the Illinois Budget Deal

Progressive movements didn't back down in the face of a right-wing ideologue.

Amisha Patel

Labor

Jimmy John’s Fired Workers for Making a ‘Disloyal’ Meme. A Court Just Ruled That’s Okay.

Bruce Vail

Viewpoint

We Are In the Midst of a Black Power Renaissance

Under Trump, we are seeing a return to collective Black consciousness.

Salim Muwakkil

Feature

A New Study Shows Hillary Clinton’s Hawkishness May Have Cost Her the Election

The lesson for Democrats is clear: Embrace a strong anti-war program.

Branko Marcetic

Feature

‘Police Chose the Klan Over Our People’: On Resisting Racism in Charlottesville

When the KKK came to this city, communities mobilized for collective self-defense. Police were not on their side.

Sarah Jaffe

Culture

The Abolitionist of Walden Pond

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

Dayton Martindale

Feature

The Right Calls Climate Change a Leap of Faith. But Denial Is a Leap into the Abyss.

Climate change presents us with an existential challenge: Can humans muster the political will to save ourselves?

Theo Anderson

Feature

Not Your Sacrifice Zone: In Lead-Poisoned East Chicago, Residents Fight for Their Health and Homes

A public housing development was built on the site of a lead smelter. Now, residents are demanding justice.

Kaela Bamberger