The Argument
Verified
Online/Digital
The Argument is a mission‑driven media company based in Washington, D.C. We make a positive, combative case for liberalism through rigorous, persuasive journalism. We will publish sharp, well-argued opinion pieces, original reporting and multimedia content that confronts the illiberal drift on both the left and the right. We aim to persuade, not preach; argue, not just diagnose. Our coverage will focus on the politics and economics of growth/abundance, technology and society, gender and family.
The Argument was founded by Jerusalem Demsas. Our staff writers are Jordan Weissmann and Kelsey Piper. Our director of political data is Lakshya Jain. Our columnists include Alice Evans, Derek Thompson, Matt Bruenig, Matthew Yglesias, Rachael Bedard and Robinson Meyer. Source
Actions
Media Outlet details
| Scope | National |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Country | United States of America |
Similarweb UVM
|
Request pricing |
Comscore UVM
|
Request pricing |
Recent Articles
Search ArticlesI changed my mind about Big Philanthropy Original
Editor’s note: The first essay The Argument ever published asked, “How do we live with each other?” To mark our first anniversary on August 17, we’re returning to that founding question with a series about what we owe people whose beliefs and choices we may find difficult to accept or even understand. Over the next few weeks, familiar voices at The Argument and new voices alike will approach that question from different angles.
Losing control of AI is actually the plan
Today’s AIs can do really hard things: conduct elaborate computer hacks, edit their own logs to conceal their activities, steal user credentials and private information from other companies, and control the cluster they are running on in order to edit the tests that are supposed to assess them. They sometimes do these things even if no human being has asked them to.
Labor-saving technologies ūü§Ě the welfare state
While we celebrate the nation‚Äôs workers this Labor Day, it‚Äôs a good time to remember that most Americans at any given time do not actually have a job. If you‚Äôre a child, or elderly, or a full-time caregiver, participation in the labor force may not be an option ‚ÄĒ or may just not even be the best use of your time.
The core anti-Pangram constituency is phony writers
Welcome to The Closing Argument, our verdict on the news, plus everything The Argument published and appeared in this week. A lot of people hate AI for drowning the internet in slop and displacing human creatives. You might think that these people would be thrilled by a program that can identify and flag AI-generated work. But many people who hate AI also hate Pangram, an impressively accurate AI detector that produces very few false positives, according to high-quality independent research.
God is back on the timeline
Welcome to The Weekly Scroll! The Weekly Scroll is a once-a-week roundup of the funniest, most interesting, and strangest stories from around the social internet. This week, we’re talking about Substack’s new religious debates, the continuing MAGA influencer scandal, how to retire from YouTube, and aura battles. Why are the Substackers debating religious miracles? Over the last year, one of the hottest topics on rationalist-adjacent Substack has been… the veracity of religious miracles?
Seeing like an elite
What do Americans hear when they watch Sen. Bernie Sanders or Vice President JD Vance rail against the elite? Are they thinking of right-wing tech billionaires? Imperious college professors? Liberal magazine writers? Instead of joining the myriad political commentators in continuing to speculate wildly, we decided to ask the American people.
You’re a policymaker spooked by Hugging Face. What do you do now? (with Andrea Miotti)
In July, more than 1,200 OpenAI agents broke free of their digital confines, coordinated a massive hack of the website Hugging Face, and tried to hide their tracks. Some even chose to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the group. No human being discovered the misbehavior until the attack began, roughly two months after agents started communicating.
Nate Silver on why the center-left is losing
On Monday, progressive pollster Adam Carlson posted a spreadsheet highlighting the “battle for the soul of the Democratic Party.” Its purpose was to compare how each faction was faring in this year’s primaries. He acknowledged the subjectivity of his labeling system — but those subjective choices are, I think, very telling.
Nate Silver on why the center-left is losing
Has affirmative action gone too far? Should we abolish internet anonymity? Is liberal hypocrisy worth defending? Welcome to The Argument, a weekly podcast from Jerusalem Demsas and Matthew Yglesias, where two friends argue about politics, policy, and whatever else is on their minds. This is a debate show for people who want the nitty-gritty without the typical screaming matches or softball interviews.
How Bobby Pulido thinks he can win a Trump +18 congressional district
Democrats took a beating on cultural issues in 2024, and Bobby Pulido thinks he knows why. Even when said cultural issues have almost no impact on daily life, they are easy to default to when voters otherwise do not otherwise see meaningful differentiators. “There’s not a big difference in their lives when either party wins,” the Tejano musician and Democratic House candidate said in a Substack Live conversation with The Argument. “They were not happy under the economy under Biden.