OtherWords
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OtherWords is a free editorial service published by the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank. Each week, we publish a handful of publication-ready op-eds and columns, plus an original cartoon, and distribute them to readers, editors, and publishers through our website and newsletter. Each year, hundreds of papers reaching millions of readers use this work.
At no cost, we offer our papers polished, fact checked, and accessibly written op-eds on a range of timely subjects from a diverse cast of contributors. In fact, half or more of our bylines come from women writers, a third come from writers under 35, and a quarter come from writers of color.
We provide these commentaries to help our papers inform their readers on perspectives they won’t get elsewhere, and to free up their resources to focus on community coverage.
We cover politics, policy, and social issues from a progressive perspective, but we’re strictly non-partisan. Source
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| Scope | Local |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Country | United States of America |
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Recent Articles
Search ArticlesIn OtherWords: September 3, 2026
New This Week… Dolly Parton’s America Was the Opposite of Donald Trump’s | Melissa Dimondstein The best way to honor Dolly Parton’s legacy is with generosity, kindness, compassion, respect, and unity. The Fight Against Data Centers Is Bringing Americans Together | Sonali Kolhatkar Whether rural or urban, red or blue, more communities are pushing for a pause on these facilities that threaten our air, water, jobs, and electric bills.
Struggling Families Like Mine Are Waiting on a Bomb to Go Off
My mom worked harder than anyone I know. She wanted a good life for us. It was a hard life — I remember the Christmas she had to pawn our gifts to pay the light bill — but she made it special for us. Now I have two kids of my own, and I want them to have every opportunity that other children have. The landscape is tough out there. Like many Americans, I can’t afford childcare, and finding work that accommodates my need to care for my young children is hard.
The Fight Against Data Centers Is Bringing Americans Together
These days, it seems as though there are new data centers being proposed and built everywhere. Tech companies have long relied on these gigantic server warehouses to process massive amounts of digital data. But a race to develop AI, championed by President Donald Trump, has fed a sharp surge in construction. The problem is, no one really wants to live near one. Three quarters of Americans surveyed in August say they oppose data centers. That’s up from 42 percent a year earlier.
Dolly Parton’s America Was the Opposite of Donald Trump’s
I’ve been a fan of Dolly Parton since her terrific 1980 movie (and hit song) 9-5, on the struggle of working women organizing for dignity and respect — and against sexual harassment. Along with millions of others, I’m saddened by the Queen of Country’s passing. But I’m miffed about people who opposed what Dolly stood for now trying to claim her legacy as their own. For instance, President Trump has claimed that Parton was a supporter of his, even sharing a fake AI photo of the two of them together.
In OtherWords: August 26, 2026
This week in OtherWords, Chuck Collins sizes up the frantic warnings about “socialism” or “communism” coming from some pundits and politicians. It’s perfectly true, Chuck writes, that a new wave of self-described democratic socialists are running in states across the country — and some are even winning. But while critics usher in a new Red Scare, Chuck argues that voters are looking past these labels and trying to find solutions to their real-life problems.
The Moral Poverty of the Rich and Powerful
Don’t tell anybody, but millions of American children, workers, and elderly people are enduring the personal horror of dispiriting, debilitating, deadening poverty every day. It’s our national horror, too, for the greatest cause of their penury is not lack of ambition, drug addiction, stupidity, or other canards hurled at the impoverished.
Is It Socialism Or Just Common Sense?
The debate over capitalism vs. socialism often looks like a battle of cartoon caricatures: Monopoly Man versus the Marx Monster. Across the planet there are countless flavors of capitalism and socialism, unique mashups of free markets and government policies. Into this muddle wade the right-wing ideologues who fear the red “socialist” demon hiding in every corner.
We’re Getting Dangerously Used to ICE Abuse
Jose Chajon-Raxon, an immigrant from Guatemala, died this August at Delaney Hall, a controversial ICE facility in New Jersey. His death marks more than 50 deaths in ICE custody since President Trump took office last year. Despite all the controversies, ICE keeps killing people — a sentence that should never feel normal. We should never find ourselves counting the days between deaths or waiting for the next headline. But somehow, we have. Earlier this year it was Renee Good, then Alex Pretti.
Kids Need Accountability and Support, Not Handcuffs
Many kids returning to school this year aren’t looking forward to reconnecting with teachers or students. Instead, they’re dreading new encounters with school resource officers, zero tolerance policies, and state laws that criminalize youthful misbehavior. This punitive infrastructure, collectively known as retributive justice, turns routine school disciplinary issues into matters for the criminal justice system.
Kennith RaShaun Woods II
August 26, 2026 | As students head back to school, more districts should consider disciplinary policies built around restorative justice, not retribution. More