Did the LAPD Kill the Notorious B.I.G.?
Criminal police officers ran law enforcement in 1990s Los Angeles — and they may have a story to tell.
518 Articles by: Branko Marcetic
Branko Marcetic is a Jacobin staff writer and the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden.
Brian Williams Was Just the Face of Corporate News Lies
NBC’s Brian Williams didn’t just exaggerate one anecdote: He serially lied about nearly a dozen events he had covered, and continued to rake in millions after it. He was everything wrong with corporate news.
Last Week’s Elections Were Not a Repudiation of the Left
After nearly a year of barely doing anything the Left has actually demanded, Joe Biden and his centrist allies don’t get to blame leftists for the electoral disaster the centrists’ own inaction brought.
Last Week’s Elections Actually Gave Leftists Plenty to Cheer
For many on the Left, last week’s elections came like a gut punch. But zoom out beyond the high-profile races cable news pundits fixated on, and Tuesday saw many significant victories for left-wing candidates and policies.
Joe Manchin Actually Has a Lot Riding on the Infrastructure Bill’s Passage
Underlying progressives’ surrender to Joe Manchin is the assumption that the West Virginia coal baron is happy to walk away with nothing. But Manchin angering West Virginia voters, GOP officials, businesses, and his campaign donors would hurt him badly.
Buffalo’s Establishment Pulled Out All the Stops to Defeat India Walton
To beat India Walton, the establishment smeared her, changed the rules, and threw piles of cash. In the end, she flipped Byron Brown’s base while he drove up turnout in the city’s wealthiest areas.
Byron Brown Might Beat India Walton Despite a Career of Corruption and Failure
The career trajectory of Byron Brown, the write-in incumbent running against socialist India Walton for mayor of Buffalo, is familiar to US cities: a young reformer who took on the city’s corrupt establishment — and who soon embodied the very corruption he’d run against.
Society, the Cult Horror Film Where the Monster Is Class Conflict
The 1989 cult horror classic Society is remembered for its sensational effects and disturbing undertones. But it’s the movie’s grisly portrayal of the rich exploiting the poor that’s the scariest thing of all.
There’s No Reason for Progressives to Vote for the Watered-Down Infrastructure Bill
The reconciliation bill has been so watered down, progressives should no longer feel pressure — moral or political — to support it.
The Economy Is Suffering From Too Little Government Intervention, Not Too Much
From Tucker Carlson to Larry Summers, free market devotees are blaming inflation on Joe Biden’s “big government” economic policies. In reality, the administration has done far too little to insulate Americans from the economic effects of the pandemic.
15 Minutes of Shame Has Nothing New to Say About Cancel Culture
To its credit, the new Monica Lewinsky–produced documentary about cancel culture takes the issue seriously without turning it into a cultural war bludgeon. But it can’t imagine a solution that isn’t dangerous, like tech censorship.
Colin Powell’s Mindless Obedience to the US War Machine Led to Death and Destruction
Hailed by the media as a patriot who put country first, Colin Powell put unthinking obedience to superiors above moral integrity. The world has suffered for it.
Republicans Are Trying to Repeal Vaccine Mandates for Every Disease
If the GOP has its way, diseases like measles and tuberculosis could make a big comeback.
The Real Bad Art Friend Is the Horrible Political Economy of Writing
The “Bad Art Friend” saga has held readers spellbound, launching a thousand debates about which of the two central figures in the writers’ feud is to blame. But maybe the real culprit is a bleak economic landscape that leads writers to fight for scraps.
Facebook Harms Its Users Because That’s Where Its Profits Are
Facebook has been the target of an unprecedented flood of criticism in recent months — and rightly so. But too many critics seem to forget that the company is driven to do bad things by its thirst for profit, not by a handful of mistaken ideas.
Sick and Injured Americans Are Drug Companies’ Favorite Cash Cows
Global pharmaceutical companies sell their medications in every country around the world. But only in the US do they get away with charging the extortionate prices Americans have become familiar with.
CIA Op or Not, the Pandora Papers Are a Big Deal
There’s good reason to speculate that the Pandora Papers, the massive leak exposing the tax-dodging practices of the global superrich — which includes plenty of Russians and Chinese, but almost no Americans — is a CIA plant. Nevertheless, it’s a newsworthy story that deserves the attention it’s gotten.
Steven Donziger Was Imprisoned by the 1 Percent’s Favorite Judge
Loretta Preska, the judge who did Chevron’s bidding in the case against activist Steven Donziger, has a history of conflicts of interest and pro-corporate rulings. And she’s not alone — corporate influence and conflicts of interest are rampant in the courts.
Will the Media Finally Learn Something From Its Fake “Havana Syndrome” Debacle?
Yet more evidence emerges that the so-called Havana Syndrome caused by a “microwave weapon” in US diplomats and intelligence personnel was a psychosomatic illness. Maybe it’s time for national security reporters to stop letting anonymous officials make wild claims to stoke conflict and inflate their budgets.
After Attacking Civil Liberties for Two Decades, the Right is Now Pretending to Care About Them
Determined to undermine the US pandemic response, the Right is opposing vaccine mandates on the grounds that they’re an authoritarian power grab. Don’t be fooled: up until a few months ago, they backed every civil liberties–shredding measure under the sun.