Elon Musk for the Not-So-Perplexed

Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff’s “Muskism” is a much-needed critical study of the world’s first trillionaire. But Musk is no enigma—and no mere symptom…

23 hrs ago • Victor Shammas

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June 2026

One Giant Leap for Oligarchy

When a trillionaire controls essential infrastructure, democracy suffers.

Jun 12 • Victor Shammas

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May 2026

AI and the Means of Intellectual Production

AI isn’t so much a break with past history as a continuation of capitalism’s accelerating tendencies—with humanity’s collective data as its training…

May 29 • Victor Shammas

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November 2025

Have Denmark’s Right-Leaning Social Democrats Finally Learned Their Lesson?

Denmark’s recent elections suggest the Social Democrats’ rightward turn on immigration won’t always win. Voters expect more from the left—even in the…

Nov 24, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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The Trillion-Dollar Vassal

How Trump 2.0, Israel’s Gaza war, and Norway's two-trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund converged in a firestorm of finance, geopolitics, and genocide.

Nov 14, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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Dan Wang's "Breakneck": A Lesson in Disavowed Hawkishness

Like Klein and Thompson's Abundance, Dan Wang wants the U.S. to build. But Breakneck isn't about raising living standards—it's about preparing for war.

Nov 4, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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October 2025

Picaresque Postmodernism in Dangerous Times

Why Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" doesn't work in this political moment.

Oct 28, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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Harris’s 107 Days and the Missing Reckoning: Gaza

Early coverage of Kamala Harris’s campaign memoir, 107 Days, has been unfair. Yet Harris still won't adequately deal with the Biden administration's…

Oct 17, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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September 2025

The Poverty of Abundance

Abundance liberalism won't defeat fascism.

Sep 22, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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August 2025

Norway's Right is Obsessed With Immigration and Crime

Norway is a safe, prosperous, and diverse society. So why can't the right stop talking about immigration and crime?

Aug 28, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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July 2025

Lemkin's Concept of Genocide

A 1945 letter from jurist Raphael Lemkin takes us back to a historical moment when the concept of genocide was just beginning to take hold.

Jul 30, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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Ringo's "Peace and Love" and the Problem of the Empty Signifier

Ringo Starr just wants "peace and love." What could possibly be wrong with that?

Jul 12, 2025 • Victor Shammas

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