Politics

A brief response to a New York Times essay on Trump’s authoritarian tactics and the weakening of democratic institutions.

Reflections on the cult of personality surrounding Trump, drawing comparisons with the adoration cultivated around Stalin.

A Soviet propaganda image and its translated message thanking Stalin for a happy childhood.

A brief recommendation of Rebecca Solnit’s essay on Donald Trump, privilege, and isolation.

Interpreting Trump’s dismissal of James Comey through the author’s view of Trump’s persistent personal self-interest.

A critique of claims that protesters are paid, examining the inconsistent treatment of money and legitimacy in politics.

A satirical proposal for a Twitter bot that translates Donald Trump’s tweets into Russian.

A poem about screen-bound passivity, political spectacle, and the uneasy unreality of the Trump era.

A response to Trump’s proposed elimination of federal arts and humanities endowments, drawing on Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry.

What I learned from a month without routine news consumption and with strict limits on social media.