Articles by Anne Kim's Profile | Washington Monthly Journalist

The Myth of the “Independent Creator”

Jun 17, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Online sensations like Mr. Beast—the YouTuber with nearly 500 million subscribers—have spurred countless imitators with dreams of online fame. More than 127 million people say they work as “creators,” according to the influencer marketing firm NeoReach.

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Why You’ll Never Be an Online Star

Jun 14, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Online sensations like Mr. Beast—the YouTuber with nearly 500 million subscribers—have spurred countless imitators with dreams of online fame. More than 127 million people say they work as “creators,” according to the influencer marketing firm NeoReach.

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The Washington Monthly Announces Finalists for 2026 Kukula Award Book Review Prize

Jun 08, 2026 |

By Merrill Goozner , Anne Kim , Bill Scher

| Washington Monthly

The Washington Monthly proudly announces the finalists for the 2026 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing—the only journalism prize dedicated to highlighting and encouraging reviews of serious, public affairs-focused books. Now in its seventh year, the award honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the magazine’s longtime and beloved books editor. Two prize winners will be announced on Monday, June 15.

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Gen Z Has an Antisemitism Problem

Jun 07, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Among the vilest figures in American politics today is the far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier who makes no secret of his hateful views. “We are done with the slavish surrender to Israel, the wars, the foreign aid, the policing of antisemitism, the Holocaust religion and propaganda,” he said in a 2025 video typical of his bigotry.

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Real Men Teach—But We Need More of Them

Jun 03, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

For several decades now, girls have been outperforming boys academically. They earn , are less likely to drop out, and are significantly more likely to attend college. Women now earn the majority of professional degrees, according to the Hechinger Report, including 60 percent of master’s and doctorates. The growing gender gap in achievement isn’t just bad for young men, it’s bad for women too.

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How to Save Capitalism

May 20, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

For at least the past half-century, market “efficiency” and the maximization of shareholder profit have been the paramount goals of U.S. capitalism. The result: a proliferation of billionaires, soaring inequality, and growing doubts about the fairness of the U.S. economy. A majority of California voters, for instance, say they support the “billionaire tax” on the ballot in November. New York City’s mayor is a democratic socialist.

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The Capitalists Trying to Fix Capitalism

May 17, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Substack

Playback speed × Share post Share post at current time Share from 0:00 0:00 / The Capitalists Trying to Fix Capitalism "Market humanism" is how the economy should work, argue Nick Hanauer and Eric Beinhocker. Billionaires are the apex predators of the modern economy. They tear up governments, buy politicians, and wreck the planet with carbon-spewing yachts. They control the news and what’s in our feeds. They spend $55 million on lavish weddings while the rest of us struggle to buy groceries and gas.

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The Capitalists Trying to Fix Capitalism

May 17, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Billionaires are the apex predators of the modern economy. They tear up governments, buy politicians, and wreck the planet with carbon-spewing yachts. They control the news and what’s in our feeds. They spend $55 million on lavish weddings while the rest of us struggle to buy groceries and gas. No wonder then, that billionaire backlash is growing. A majority of California voters, for instance, say they support the “billionaire tax” on the ballot in November.

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Vote While You Still Can

May 10, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

When Hungarians went to the polls last month to defeat the authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, they did so in record numbers. A historic 77.8 percent of voters cast ballots—Hungary’s highest turnout ever. The last time U.S. voter turnout came close to that level was in 1900 (73.2 percent), when William McKinley beat Williams Jennings Bryan.

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Get Ready for the AI Crash

May 06, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In an ominous sign for the artificial intelligence industry, OpenAI reported this week that it had missed its targets for new users and revenue. The revelation sparked fresh worries about an AI bubble—and an imminent AI crash.

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An AI Crash Is Coming. What Then?

May 03, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Flipboard

Now This was one of my best experiences with a phone camera, and there's no going back. I have been reviewing phones for almost a decade. And countless times over this period, brands have claimed that their phones can replace actual DSLRs or mirrorless cameras. Every time I’ve heard that, I have wanted …

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An AI Crash Is Coming. What Then?

May 03, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In an ominous sign for the artificial intelligence industry, OpenAI reported this week that it had missed its targets for new users and revenue. The revelation sparked fresh worries about an AI bubble—and an imminent AI crash.

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Why Americans Don’t Trust Higher Education

Apr 26, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Higher education has been buzzing about a new report from Yale University on the decline of public trust in colleges and universities. The report is unexpectedly self-flagellatory, which is why it’s earned hyperbolic headlines since its release. (“Yale report savages Ivy League schools for destroying trust in higher education,” blared Fortune.) Many of the report’s recommendations, drafted by a 10-member committee, will no doubt improve Yale’s internal operations.

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You Could Have Filed Your Taxes for Free This Year…

Apr 19, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In 2024, Joe Biden’s administration piloted Direct File, a free tax filing program offered by the Internal Revenue Service to save taxpayers time and money. More than 140,000 taxpayers participated, and a subsequent audit by the Government Accountability Office praised the initiative for its design and accuracy.

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Trump’s Budget: Cruelty, Contempt, and Endless Debt

Apr 12, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

The headline number from the Trump Administration’s fiscal 2027 budget, released last week, was the eye-watering $1.5 trillion demanded for the “Department of War.” But that’s not the only problem in this flaming dumpster of a document. If budgets are meant to be blueprints, what Trump is building is a mausoleum for America’s future. First, let’s be clear: Trump’s budget has no chance of passing Congress as is.

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Democrats’ “Branding Problem” Is a Literal One

Apr 05, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

I was killing time at the Washington Dulles International Airport a couple of weeks back, having arrived five hours early for my flight. (The TSA lines were actually great.) In search of a travel pillow for one of the kids, we stumbled across a gift shop in the United terminal with a surprisingly abundant array of Trump-related merch. Garishly sequined MAGA hats. Garishly sequined MAGA sweatshirts.

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Women Are Getting Slammed in Trump’s Economy

Mar 29, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his hostility to women, whether it’s his appalling tolerance of sexual predators, his misogynistic attacks on the women who’ve dared to challenge him, or the multiple allegations of misconduct leveled against Trump himself. It’s the Trump economy, however, that’s had the most widespread negative impact on women in America.

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Trump’s Not-So-Great Health Care Plan

Mar 25, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

President Donald Trump recently unveiled his “Great Healthcare Plan,” vowing to bring down soaring premiums and “fix” the Affordable Care Act. But Trump’s single-page plan is likely to fall far short of his promises, says Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University and a former health policy advisor to the National Economic Council under President Joe Biden. For instance, Trump wants to give cash directly to households to pay for health care.

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Can “At-Large” Districts Push Extremists Out of Congress

Mar 15, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Next month, Virginians will vote on whether to authorize a new Congressional map that could yield as many as four new Democratic seats. It’s the latest move in the gerrymandering wars touched off by President Donald Trump, when he demanded that Texas redraw its Congressional districts to help ensure a Republican majority after the midterms this fall. Since then, legislatures in including Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, Illinois, and California, have approved or are considering new maps.

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The Republicans Who Could Save Democracy

Mar 11, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

President Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party has seemed absolute. But his consistent disregard for constitutional and societal norms might be leading to genuine fissures within the GOP.

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The Corporate Conspiracy of Silence on “Affordability”

Mar 08, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

“Affordability” is on the lips of every politician in America and on the minds of most Americans. Surveys consistently find it to be a top concern for voters (though the war in Iran could soon displace it). But one group is conspicuously silent: the companies that rely on the low-wage workers hit hardest by inflation. On the one hand, companies haven’t been shy about their own affordability burdens resulting from Trump’s misguided policies.

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The GOP’s Cruel Plans for Another Big Ugly Bill

Mar 01, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

My grandmother immigrated to the US from South Korea when I was three years old. She arrived in the country legally and got her green card around the same time my parents became naturalized US citizens a few years later. She took care of my little brother and me so that my mother could work as a typist for an insurance company (yes, those jobs once existed). Our family couldn’t afford child care.

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Could New Orleans Be the Model for Fixing Public Schools?

Feb 25, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In 2003, New Orleans public schools were among the worst in the country. Seventy percent of eighth-graders were not proficient in math, 74 percent weren’t proficient in English, and the graduation rate was . Moreover, the district was as corrupt as it was incompetent. FBI investigations led to the indictment of two dozen school officials; nearly $70 million in federal funding was missing. New Orleans schools have since achieved a remarkable transformation.

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No boom in jobs for Trump's base

Feb 22, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Substack

Stronger than expected jobs numbers have the White House crowing about a booming Trump economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the economy added 130,000 jobs in January, which Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer claimed as “proof that President Trump’s America First policies are working their magic.” “Magic”? Make that sleight-of-hand. Other numbers released by BLS betray a labor market that’s shaky at best, especially for the workers Trump claims to champion.

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The companies secretly profiting from ICE

Feb 15, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Substack

Earlier this year, 55-year-old Cuban immigrant Geraldo Lunas Campos died at an ICE detention facility on the grounds of Fort Bliss, Texas. Officials claimed Campos had been “in distress,” and guards had been trying to help. But his death was ruled a homicide, the result of “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.” Charges have yet to be filed; it’s unclear if an investigation is even pending. That’s not the only peculiarity surrounding Campos’s death.

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Gen Z’s Problem with “Fake” News

Feb 11, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In the eyes of today’s teens, journalism and the media are doomed.

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How Democrats Lost Rural Voters-and How to Win Them Back

Jan 28, 2026 |

By Anne Kim , Garrett Epps

| Washington Monthly

In 2008, President Barack Obama made major inroads with rural voters—a feat that Democratic candidates hadn’t been able to achieve since the 1992 and 1996 victories of Bill Clinton. Obama won 9 million votes from rural America and flipped 179 rural counties that had voted Republican in 2004. He still lost rural voters 45 percent to 53 percent, but his performance was a big improvement over 2004, when President George W.

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How the Supreme Court Could End Super PACs-Without Overturning Citizens United

Jan 14, 2026 |

By Anne Kim , Garrett Epps

| Washington Monthly

In 2010, the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to money in politics with its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. The Court struck down longstanding federal restrictions on “independent” political spending by corporations and outside groups, ruling that such expenditures were protected “speech” under the First Amendment.

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Billionaire backlash is coming

Jan 11, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Substack

President Donald Trump likes to complain that America doesn’t “make things any more,” but that’s not true when it comes to minting billionaires. The United States dominates the global production of billionaires, accounting for about a third of the roughly 3,100 people worldwide who can lay claim to this status. But far from a point of national pride, this proliferation of plutocrats is problematic. Consider, for instance, that a billionaire currently lives in the White House.

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Should Billionaires Exist?

Jan 07, 2026 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

On September 29, 1916, John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire when the stock price for Standard Oil reached $2,014. It was noteworthy enough to be front-page news at The New York Times. Today, Forbes’ “Real Time Billionaires” list includes more than 3,100 people, with newcomers seemingly minted daily.

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Donald Trump’s Go-it-Alone America

Dec 21, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

President Donald Trump is a singular—and solitary—figure. “I alone can fix it,” he solipstically declared in 2016, before his first presidential run. Now in his second term, he’s been a one-man tsunami, destroying decades-long global alliances, creating chaos in the global economy with his unilateral tariffs, and unleashing bitter partisanship domestically.

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Government Is, in Fact, Broken

Dec 17, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

President Donald Trump’s unrelenting assault on the federal workforce has prompted many progressives to leap reflexively to government’s defense. Some progressives, however, are acknowledging the need for reform. “The truth is, Trump and Elon Musk alone didn’t break our governing institutions,” write Hannah Garden-Monheit and Tresa Joseph in a new report for the Roosevelt Institute.

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Tough Medicine for Democrats: “Too Liberal” and “Out of Touch”

Dec 10, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Less than a year into his second term, President Donald Trump is already hobbling toward lame duck status. His approval rating has plummeted to 36 percent, according to Gallup’s latest survey, including just a 25 percent thumbs-up among independents. He’s squandered his gains with Latino voters, with nearly 80 percent now telling Pew that his policies are more harmful than helpful. Democrats, meanwhile, are enjoying an uptick in their electoral fortunes.

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Trump’s Broken Promise of “One Million Apprentices”

Dec 04, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

As part of his promise to restore American manufacturing and the fortunes of the working class, President Donald Trump pledged to expand trade apprenticeships. In an April executive order, Trump directed the Department of Labor to deliver within 120 days a plan “to reach and surpass 1 million new active apprentices.” That deadline has passed, with no evidence of progress or even a plan to reach the one-million apprenticeship milestone.

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How Democrats Won Virginia and New Jersey

Dec 03, 2025 |

By Matthew Cooper, Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Last month, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill notched blockbuster victories in Virginia and New Jersey. Spanberger trounced her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by a 15-point margin, while Sherrill defeated businessman Jack Ciattarrelli by 13-points.

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US-Canada Relations Have Hit Rock Bottom

Nov 27, 2025 |

By Anne Kim , Garrett Epps

| Washington Monthly

A month after President Donald Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada over an anti-tariff ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan, the two countries have yet to resume negotiations.

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Federal Data Are Disappearing

Nov 26, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Monthly jobs numbers and the Census Bureau might be the first—and only—things that come to mind for many Americans when they think about federal data. But government data undergirds many of the everyday essentials Americans rely on, like weather forecasts and tornado warnings. Federal data keep track of crime and public safety, provide early warning of epidemics, and help farmers plan their crops. But all of that is under threat. To President Donald Trump, data are both a weapon and an enemy.

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Federal Data Are Disappearing

Nov 26, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Flipboard

Now Without James Comer’s House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the world might never have seen the “birthday book” full of lewd materials or the trove of more than 20,000 documents elucidating the late convicted sex offender’s dealings with global power players — including President Donald …

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A Podcast With Purpose

Nov 14, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Dear Reader, When Legal Affairs Editor Garrett Epps and I launched the Washington Monthly podcast last year, it was a shoestring affair—and still is. If you listen to our earliest episodes—please don’t, actually—you’ll hear uneven audio and cringe at my efforts to channel the honeyed smoothness of my audio hero, Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. (Garrett, however, sounds great.) Our first guest and guinea pig was Washington Monthly contributor Peter Shane.

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Congress Has Bankrupted America’s Future

Nov 12, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

The federal government spends the equivalent of about $90,000 per U.S. household per year—yet many Americans don’t see the benefits. Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security and tax subsidies (primarily for wealthy households) swallow up the lion’s share of the federal budget every year, along with interest on the national debt.

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A One-Woman Stand Against Conspiracists

Nov 05, 2025 |

By Anne Kim , Gillen Tener Martin

| Washington Monthly

QAnon. Pizzagate. Chemtrails. Conspiracy theories dominate much of the internet and form the rabid core of MAGA canon: That the January 6 insurrection was a “false flag” operation; that vaccines cause autism; and that the 2020 election was “rigged.” In the runup to his second campaign, Trump egged on the believers of QAnon, reposting Q-related content and playing QAnon songs (yes, there is such a thing) in his campaign rallies and videos.

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How Regional Inequality Explains Our Polarized Politics Original

Oct 29, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In Falls Church, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., 76 percent of residents have a bachelors’ degree or more, and the poverty rate is just 3 percent. But in Galax, Virginia, at the other end of the state, the picture is starkly different: Poverty there is at 22 percent—nearly double the national rate. Median incomes are half the median statewide, and a quarter of adults don’t work. One in six has no high school diploma.

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China Through the Eyes of its Most Famous Dissident

Oct 22, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

In 2010, human rights activist Liu Xiaobo became the first Chinese dissident ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Jailed at the time of his award, he delivered his speech in absentia. “I have no enemies and no hatred,” his statement read, reiterating a famous line from his June Second Hunger Strike Declaration on the eve of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

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The New Deal Treasures Slated for Demolition

Oct 14, 2025 |

By Anne Kim , Garrett Epps

| Washington Monthly

Few Americans are aware of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, two blocks from the U.S. Capitol on Independence Avenue. Fewer still know of the masterpieces housed inside. The building, opened in 1940, features grand New Deal-era murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, Seymour Fogel and other esteemed 20th-century artists—all of which could be lost forever.

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In Defense of Book Reviews

Oct 09, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

Professional book reviewers are an endangered species—but not at the Washington Monthly. The Monthly’s Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing is the nation’s only journalism prize dedicated to highlighting and encouraging exemplary reviews of serious, public affairs-focused books. Now in its sixth year, the award honors the memory of Kukula Kapoor Glastris, the magazine’s longtime and beloved books editor.

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An American Hunger Crisis Is Coming

Oct 08, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

After 30 years of publication, the U.S. Department of Agriculture abruptly canceled its annual report on the prevalence of hunger in America.

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Who deserves opportunity in Trump's America?

Oct 05, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Substack

Every seventh-grader in America learns of Horatio Alger, the 19th-century novelist whose “rags to riches” tales mythologized the American Dream. Through perseverance, hard work, and good character, Alger’s poor but honest heroes were always rewarded with success. Even at the time, Alger’s stories were caricatures of reality. But his books were popular for a reason: his notion of who’s “deserving” is a bedrock of the American ethos, and it’s still suffused into our politics.

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Virginia Governor’s Race Preview

Oct 01, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Washington Monthly

As one of just two states holding statewide elections this fall, Virginia will be an early test of the messages voters will hear in next year’s midterm elections. So far, Virginia Republicans, led by Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears at the top of the ticket for Governor, are leaning hard into the culture war issues that helped return Donald Trump to the White House. Democrats, led by Representative Abigail Spanberger, are running on the economy and rising prices.

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AI Is Killing the College Essay. Enter the “Video Essay”

Sep 15, 2025 |

By Anne Kim

| Flipboard

Here’s what the data says people ask ChatGPT OpenAI released the first detailed public study on who uses its chatbot and what they most often ask it to do. SAN FRANCISCO — ChatGPT-maker OpenAI released the first detailed study of what its users do with the popular chatbot and who they are, providing an unprecedented look at how people use the …

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