Current Affairs

Sometimes it’s helpful to separate the art from the artist—like when you’re watching Seinfeld reruns and can’t stop thinking about that time the real-life Jerry dated a teenager, or when you’re staring at the 808s & Heartbreak tattoo on your leg, placed there long before Kanye started selling swastika merch. Sometimes, though, a work of art arrives so thoroughly infused with the essence of its maker that you couldn’t separate the chicken from the egg if you tried.

Originally published in our magazine’s hallowed print edition 2026 Sept/Oct Details The Democratic nominee for Senate is accepting no substitutes for universal healthcare. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan. In August, he won the state’s primary despite being outspent approximately 10 to 1. If elected, he will be the first Muslim senator in U.S. history.

There is wiggle room on matters of sexual misconduct and domestic violence in the USA’s most popular sports league. But speaking with a conscience is a step too far. Do you think it’s a good sign when the owners of a sports franchise must release a statement saying they are “aware and empathetic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision,” after they trade for a player whom they are about to pay an amount of money that would make Scrooge McDuck blush?

In Michigan and Maine, a tale of two campaigns. The New York Times has a new article headlined “Democrats Show Strength in Michigan Senate Race but Trail in Maine, Polls Find.” It highlights the divergent electoral prospects of two Democratic Senate candidates: Michigan’s Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Maine’s Troy Jackson.

The Trump administration is attempting to render the Endangered Species Act incapable of protecting endangered species. At the moment, you’re not allowed to harm a federally protected animal. The Trump administration has reinterpreted the law to mean that you can’t harm a federally protected animal on purpose.

Under a far-right government, abject incompetence is precisely what you want. For much of the 20th century, there was little question who Americans considered the greatest director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation: J. Edgar Hoover. Really, nobody else was even discussed. Hoover helped to create the FBI from the ground up, and led it for an unprecedented 48 years straight.

Let’s not get outraged about things that are obviously, undeniably factually correct. Outrage cycle #712 about Hasan Piker has begun. This time, it started with an interview Piker did with Alex Thompson of Axios. Plenty in the media would clearly love to manufacture a “Jeremiah Wright” moment for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and force him to denounce Hasan. They’re fishing for a scandal. They’re trying to get a clip they can cut out of context and pump out to create a controversy.

Two generations of activists discuss the legacy of the War on Terror, confronting power, and why anti-war activism matters as much as ever. In the aftermath of 9/11, as the Bush administration prepared to invade Iraq, activists Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin helped found CODEPINK: a feminist anti-war organization known for its bright-pink protests, confrontations with members of Congress, and opposition to U.S. militarism around the world.

The film Warner Bros. tried to bury is back, with a sharp satire of companies exactly like the ones consolidating power in Hollywood. Back in 2024, after Warner Bros. decided to can Coyote vs. Acme for a tax write-off, there were “funeral screenings” held for the cast and crew, most of whom were seeing it for the first time. It was also, as far as anyone knew, the last time the film would be shown. There were offers from other distributors, but Warner Bros.

There’s no such thing as an “apolitical” artist in a time of genocide. The call to “Free Palestine” is a statement against Israel’s decades-long occupation and blockade of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. In 2026, it’s a denouncement of an active genocide. To New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, it’s akin to antisemitism.