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Sunday, June 16, 2024

I picked up a couple new projects this week, which has put me in a dither, but I got up Sunday morning and stuck with this, making my usual rounds (though not much time on X), and figure I've collected and written enough. (Would be nice to add some more music mid-year lists, but I may add them in a Monday update.)

I'm reading Steve Hahn's Illiberal America: A History, well into the chapter on neoliberals who proved their "neo" by going "il" -- quite a bit of Bill Clinton there, but not so much Buchanan/Perot, who pop up in a book review toward the end here. No doubt there's still a lot of Trump to come.

PS: Laura Tillem reposted a poem she wrote for "a poetry slam, for international day of peace celebration in Wichita."

Initial count: 202 links, 9,929 words.

Local tags (these can be linked to directly): on music.

Top story threads:

Israel: This remains, as it has since the Hamas revolt on Oct. 7, 2023, our top story, both in terms of its overall impact and the extent and volatility of news coverage. After going through several permutations, I've found it useful to break the stories up into three groups. This one covers the political concerns and the conflicts within Israel (including Gaza, and neighboring areas like Lebanon that Israel is in direct conflict with). We should be clear that what the IDF is doing in Gaza is genocide, and is intended as such. We should also be clear that Israel practices systematic discrimination and sporadic terror against Palestinians outside of Gaza which, while not rising to the intensity of genocide, should be universally condemned.

The most common word for these policies and practices is "apartheid" -- a word used by South Africa to describe their peculiar implementation of racist segregation, drawn largely on the American example. While there are subtle differences in Israel's implementation, the word is good enough for practical use. One major problem with genocide in Gaza is that it provides cover for increasing violence in the broader practice of apartheid.

The second section concerns diplomatic relations between Israel and the US, and political directives regarding Israel within the US. Israel's ability to carry out genocide in Gaza is directly related to US military, political, and diplomatic support, and this extends to efforts to suppress free speech and to influence elections within the US. (It is, for instance, impossible to see AIPAC as an American interest group given that it operates in lockstep with Israeli foreign policy.)

Student demonstrations, on the other hand, fall into a third subject grouping, "Israel vs. world opinion." This also includes the ICC/ICJ genocide cases, world diplomatic activity aside from that by Israel and the US, and more general discussions of what charges of genocide and antisemitism mean.

• Mondoweiss:

  • [06-10] Day 248: Israel kills 274 Palestinians while freeing four Israeli prisoners in Gaza; Gantz resigns from war cabinet: "Blinken arrives in Cairo on his eighth tour to the Middle East since the beginning of the war in the hopes of pushing for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal."

  • [06-13] Day 251: Blinken and Hamas exchange accusations of obstructing ceasefire deal: "The World Health Organization warned of mass starvation in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed 12 people in the West Bank in 48 hours."

• Zack Beauchamp: [06-10] Israel's "war cabinet" just fell apart. What happens now? "Benny Gantz's departure from the war cabinet won't change much immediately. But it could end up mattering a lot." More on this:

  • Meron Rapoport: [06-11] What Gantz's exit reveals about Israel's failed Gaza strategy. Note that while Gantz quit because Netanyahu has no post-war plan, Gantz doesn't have much of one either. Cites this slightly older piece:

  • Menachem Klein: [04-09] Netanyahu isn't the only one interested in prolonging the war: "A broad coalition of political forces, from Israel's far right to the Zionist left, have different motivations for turning the war into the new normal."

• Peter Beaumont: [06-15] Eight Israeli soldiers killed in southern Gaza, military says: "IDF fatalities from the Gaza operation and immediate surroundings, which now stand at 307, have been hugely outnumbered by Palestinian deaths" (37,000 gives a ratio of 120-to-1). Still, these 8 are tragic and senseless, again showing the contempt, carelessness, and cruelty behind this war.

• Catherine Cartier: Israel's new air war in the West Bank: Nearly half of the dead are children: "Nearly 20 years after the Second Intifada, the Israeli military has resumed airstrikes in the West Bank -- and killed 24 children."

• Amos Harel: [06-05] Israel caught in a strategic trap on Lebanon border -- thanks to Netanyahu's scorched-earth policy: "Not only does the Israeli government not have a solution to the conflict raging on the northern border, but it's failing thus far could mean that many Israelis decide never to return to their homes there. And Ben-Gvir, more pyromaniac than firefighter, is always on hand to fan the flames."

  • Ali Rizk: [06-12] Hezbollah plays down Israel threat to full blown war: "But the group's use of anti-aircraft missiles and Tel Aviv's latest killing of a top commander reflect daily escalations in that direction." Most of the missiles were launched as a reprisal after Israel's assassination of Taleb Abdullah. While Hezbollah has little appetite for attacking Israel, they feel they have to respond when Israel attacks them, even though all that really does is encourage Israel to attack Lebanon again. This deterrence game only makes losers of both sides. For more details, see:

  • James McKenzie/Lalla Bassam: [06-12] Hezbollah fires most rockets yet in war after Israel kills a top commander.

• Raja Khalidi: [06-07] The financial destruction of Palestine. Note that this "economic strangulation" is happening in the West Bank, away from the genocide in Gaza (but overshadowed by it).

• Ezra Klein: [06-14] Israelis are not watching the same war you are: Interview with Amit Segal, who has a book (in Hebrew, but supposed to be coming out in English) on The Story of Israeli Politics. Such a book could be useful, but I doubt his is. The interview is mostly interesting as an illustration of how deeply embedded a supposedly astute Israeli political observer can be within the national paranoia. The idea that "we tried everything and nothing worked" is not just wrong but obscene. Also available, and probably no better, is: [05-07] Ezra Klein interviews Ari Shavit.

• Middle East Monitor: [06-15] Ehud Barak describes 'absolute victory' as empty slogan: 'We are closer to total failure.'

• Bar Peleg/Adi Hashmonai/Maya Lecker: [06-15] 'End the war, free the hostages': Tens of thousands of Israelis protest Netanyahu coalition, call to strike Gaza deal.

• Alon Pinkas: [05-13] This Independence Day, Israel has split into two incompatible Jewish states: "There are now two states here -- Israel and Judea -- with contrasting visions of what the nation should be." He describes the former as "a high-tech, secular, outward-looking, imperfect but liberal state" and the latter as "a Jewish-supremacist, ultranationalist theocracy with messianic, antidemocratic tendencies that encourage isolation."

• Aarushi Punia: [06-12] The mutilation of Palestine has been a strategy of Israel since its inception.

• Richard Silverstein:

  • [06-13] Growing US complicity in Gaza genocide: "US offers intelligence to assassinate Sinwar."

  • [06-06] Biden: Flim-flam man: "The president's ceasefire plan stands little chance of success."

  • [05-30] Mossad mafia threatens ICC prosecutors, journalists: "Netanyahu commands Mossad to spy on ICC chief prosecutors and threaten them."

• Jeffrey St Clair: [06-14] No way out in Nuseirat: the great hostage rescue massacre.

• Oren Ziv: [06-06] Chanting 'burn Shu'afat' and 'flatten Gaza,' masses attend Jerusalem Flag March: "Israeli ministers joined the annual celebration of East Jerusalem's conquest, where racist slogans and attacks on journalists have become mainstream."

• Baker Zoubi: [06-06] Facing war and incitement, is there any hope left for Palestinians in the Knesset?

America's Israel (and Israel's America):

• As'ad AbuKhalil: [06-11] Biden's Saudi deal.

• Michael Arria:

  • [06-12] 'Their message is, The Empire Strikes Back': Breaking down AIPAC's role in the 2024 election: "Political consultant Peter Feld unpacks AIPAC's strategy in the Democratic primaries, Jamaal Bowman's bad poll numbers, and whether Gaza will impact Biden's reelection."

  • [06-13] The Shift: Bowman's bad poll: "The Israel lobby is set to make an example of Jamaal Bowman. Even if they're barely talking about Israel as they do it."

• Ramzy Baroud: [06-15] America crawls further into global isolation by backing Gaza genocide.

• Jonathan Chait: [06-08] Why on Earth is Chuck Schumer inviting Netanyahu to address Congress? "It's hard for me to think of an explanation for Schumer's action other than sheer spinelessness."

• Isaac Chotiner: [06-11] Is Biden's Israel policy cynical or naïve? "Evaluating eight months of the President's attempt to moderate Netanyahu's bombing campaign in Gaza." Interview with Matt Duss, of the Center for International Policy, former chief foreign-policy adviser to Bernie Sanders. Worth quoting at length when asked "what can you imagine a different Democratic Administration doing?":

  Well, I think a different Democratic Administration could have taken this issue more seriously before October 7th. That's not to say we needed another round of the usual peace process. But there have been alarms sounded about Gaza for many, many years by international N.G.O.s; certainly by Palestinians, constantly; by Israeli security officials; by members of Congress, including my former boss. The idea that we could just kind of kick the Palestinians into the corner and manage the problem without any real consequences -- that was revealed as a fantasy on October 7th.

  After October 7th, I hope and think any Democratic Administration would've done immediately what President Biden did: show full support, full solidarity, and really spend time with what occurred on October 7th in all its horror, and stand by Israel as it defended its people.

  At some point though, and fairly quickly, it became clear that what was going to be carried out in Gaza was not just self-defense. It became clear very quickly that this was a war of revenge. We have countless statements from Israeli government officials, many of which have been collected in South Africa's case in the International Court of Justice, which includes accusations of genocide. And we can see with our own eyes the kind of tactics that are being used on densely populated civilian areas in Gaza. A different Democratic Administration might've taken that much more seriously and acted with much more urgency much sooner.

  It's hard to imagine what a different Democrat could have done pre-October 7th. Obama, who almost certainly knew better, managed next to nothing helpful in eight years. There have been ways for an American president to impress upon Israel the need to take some constructive steps, but there has been little political urgency to do so, especially given the influence of pro-Israel donors in our oligarchic political system. While Sanders certainly knows better, I doubt he would have risked whatever political capital he had to bang his head against against a very recalcitrant Netanyahu.

  The next two paragraphs fairly describe what Sanders did, but ineffectively without the portfolio of the presidency. The rush to rally to Israel's defense was nearly universal in Washington, although what was really needed was to lean hard -- starting in private -- against Israel's armed response, as it was instantly clear that the intent would be genocidal, and that would lock Israel into a disastrous public relations spiral while doing virtually nothing for Israel's long-term security.

  One more point to stress here: Biden's failure to anticipate and correct for Israel's horrific response -- indeed, his failure to comprehend the problem despite following Israel closely for over fifty years -- is not simply attributable to the corrupt influence of the Israel lobby. It is deeply ingrained in America's own habitual response to security issues, which especially with the neocons under Clinton and Bush took Israel as the model for managing the threat of terrorism.

• Zachary Cohen/Katrie Bo Lillis: [06-07] CIA assessment concludes Netanyahu is likely to defy US pressure to set a post-war plan for Gaza.

• Juan Cole: [06-15] How Netanyahu and fascists in his coalition shot down the Biden peace plan.

• Joshua Keating: [06-12] The perplexing state of Gaza ceasefire negotiations, explained: "The problem is that it's not clear either side wants a ceasefire." Beware of explanations that start off with a patently false subhed. Literally every single Palestinian, even ones claiming to represent whatever's left of Hamas, want a ceasefire, and have been pleading for one ever since the rupture on Oct. 7 was closed. It's Israel that doesn't want a ceasefire, which is due to three factors: the first is that they're doing well over 99% of the firing, and they like those odds; they also think that the more Palestinians they kill, and the more of Gaza they destroy and render uninhabitable, the closer they'll be to their goal, which is the complete the removal of Palestinians from Eretz Israel; and as long as the US is willing to provide ammo and run diplomatic cover, they see no need for restraint, let alone for disengagement. Much of Netanyahu's power in Israel is tied to the reputation he's built as someone who can cower American presidents, and in that regard, Biden has been a very dependable ally.

  The "negotiations" also involve hostages, but this, too, is very asymmetrical. Hamas took 250 during the Oct. 7 attacks, not so much to exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel (thousands of them, a number which has increased rapidly since Oct. 7) as to inhibit Israel's attacks. In short, their value was to press for a truce (Hamas likes the term "hudna"), but trades for temporary ceasefires and prisoners offer little respite and diminished protection. And now, after eight months, with half of the hostages exchanged, and many more killed by Israeli fire, the remaining hostages are down to about 80. And at this point, Netanyahu is unwilling to give up his war just to get hostages back. If anything, the hostages do Netanyahu more good if "Hamas" keeps them, as they give him an excuse to keep attacking. At this point, Palestinians would be better off just freeing the hostages, in the probably vain hope that doing so might generate some good will. But that's hard for "Hamas" to do, because without the hostages, do they even exist any more?

  More on Biden's proposal and the "negotiations":

  • Dave DeCamp:

    • [06-11] Hamas responds to Biden's ceasefire proposal, wants firm timeline for permanent ceasefire.

    • [06-12] Blinken slams Hamas response to ceasefire proposal.

  • Adam Hanieh: [06-14] Why the fight for Palestine is the fight against US imperialism in the region: There is a lot of useful history in this piece, but I don't particularly subscribe to its thesis and drift. US imperialism was real enough but has become increasingly incoherent, especially once it lost its Cold War compass in the 1990s, so that these days it's mostly a sleazy game of graft, with a hugely expensive logistics network but no coherent vision, at least beyond nursing a few old grudges (like Iran and North Korea). British colonialism is even more of a ghost. That you can find echoes and innuendos in Israel is no surprise, but these days it's the Israelis who are pulling American and British strings, for their own purposes, with hardly any regard for whatever the West may want. The article claims that Israel and the Gulf monarchies are "two pillars [that] remain the crux of American power in the region today." But they're really just playing their own games, as likely to trip the US up as to help it.

  • David Hearst: [06-14] Blinken is dragging the US ever deeper into Israel's quagmire.

  • Adam Johnson: [06-11] Media keeps playing along with fiction there is an "Israel ceasefire deal" "Don't squint too hard, one may notice Israel is clear they have no intention to 'end the war.'" By the way, Johnson also published an interesting piece by "a Palestinian-American quantitative researcher focusing on disinformation and censorship in mass media," under the pseudonym "Otto": [2023-11-15] "Massacred" vs "Left to Die": Documenting media bias against Palestinians Oct 7-Nov 7: "A quantitative analysis of the first month of conflict, reveals how dehumanization is baked into the ideoogical cake of cable news."

  • Fred Kaplan:

    • [06-12] Why there's so much confusion about the Israeli peace plan: Uh, because as articulated it's not actually an Israeli plan. Because there is no Israeli plan -- not for peace, anyway. And since permanent conflict with periodic acts of war doesn't much need forethought, there's no plan for that either.

    • [06-13] Hamas's counteroffer is neither realistic nor serious. But only if you start from the assumption that Israel's demands -- which, though never clearly articulated, are roughly: Hamas frees all the hostages, gives up its struggle for Palestinian rights, and surrenders its leader for summary execution -- are the very definition of serious and realistic. In any normal world, the argument that Israel should withdraw its military from Gaza and refrain from further attacks would be completely reasonable.

  • MEE Staff: [06-13] Hamas demands Israel end Gaza blockade as part of ceasefire deal.

  • Mitchell Plitnick: [06-15] Blinken's lies about Hamas rejecting a ceasefire reveal the Biden administration's true intentions: "The Biden administration is playing a shell game with the Gaza ceasefire that aims to trick the Democratic base into thinking meaningful action is taking place to end fighting while still allowing Israel to continue its genocidal campaign."

  • Ishaan Tharoor: [06-12] Israel shrugs at Palestinian civilian casualties. So does Hamas. "In new report, Hamas's leader in Gaza is said to describe Palestinian civilian deaths as 'necessary sacrifices.'" I'm inclined to dismiss anything attributed to Hamas, as I regard them as a spent force, one at present only being propped up by Israel in their need to identify an enemy not quite as inclusive as every Palestinian. But the idea that martyrdom is preferable to subjection and slavery runs deep in the human psyche, so we shouldn't be surprised to find it articulated by Hamas speakers (especially ones removed from the fray). We should reject such sentiments, of course, but also be clear that the blame for them, and for the sacrifices they demand, belongs squarely on those whose power has made only those choices seem possible.

  • Spencer Ackerman: [06-03] 'Phase 2': The shape of Israeli rejectionism to come: "Biden has declared that Israel's reasonable war aims have been achieved. Netanyahu is in no position to agree."

• Jim Lobe: [06-12] That stinks: Global opinion of US goes down the toilet.

• Blaise Malley: [06-14] GOP trying to drive wedge between Dems with Israel votes.

• Stephen Semler: [06-12] Washington is not telling truth about the Gaza pier: "They say food is 'flowing' to the people, but data shows the opposite."

  • Tareq S Hajjaj: [06-14] The story of the US 'floating dock' built from the rubble of Gaza's homes: "The U.S. said it was constructing a floating pier off Gaza's coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. However, the real reason it exists is to protect American interests in the region."

  • Ahmed Omar: [06-11] Gaza resistance sources say fear is rising US pier will be used for forced displacement of Palestinians: "Critics warn the U.S.-constructed pier off Gaza's coast is being used for military purposes. Now a source in the Gaza resistance says there are indications it will be used to facilitate the forced displacement of Palestinians." They have good reason to be fearful. Most of the Palestinian refugees in Beirut were stampeded onto British ships in Jaffa, as they fled the indiscriminate shelling by the Irgun in 1948, the Israelis having their preference for killing all Palestinians at Deir Yassin. With Egypt resisting their efforts to drive Gazans out through the Sinai, the pier and the ever-obliging Americans will increasingly look like some kind of final solution.

• Emily Tamkin:

  • [06-15] Elise Stefanik's fight against antisemitism is quite the exercise in chutzpah.

  • [06-13] Ritchie Torres vs. the Left: "Why the New York Democrat chose Israel over his progressive colleagues." Torres is also included here:

    • Sarah Jones: [06-14] The 'progressives' who left: Along with John Fetterman and Mondaire Jones.

• Prem Thakker: House votes to block US funding to rebuild Gaza.

Israel vs. world opinion:

• Tariq Ali: [06-13] How the West celebrated the Nuseirat massacre: "In the latest repellent display, western media are hailing the rescue of four Israeli hostages at the cost of 270 Palestinian lives." My impression was that they view the 270 Palestinians less as a cost than as a bonus.

• Roman Altshuler: [06-15] Right's crusade against antisemitism: It's a blatant effort to silence Jewish voices.

• Edward Carver: [06-06] Spain applies to join ICJ genocide case against Israel.

• Juan Cole:

  • [06-13] UN Commission of Inquiry: Israel guilty of crimes against humanity, Hamas guilty of war crimes.

  • [06-14] Israel joins ISIL, Taliban, Sudan on UN blacklist of violators of children, killing or maiming 20,000 last year.

• Jonathan Cook: [06-13] The day the West defined 'success' as a massacre of 270 Palestinians: "Israelis danced in the streets, the White House hails a 'daring' operation, Rishi Sunak expresses relief. How carnage in Gaza has become the new normal."

• Marilyn Garson: [06-11] The new Jewish international: taking back the power of definition: "The International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine began in opposition to the IHRA antisemitism definition and is now a worldwide network of organizations from 16 countries working as partners with Palestinians in pursuit of justice."

• Joshua P Hill: [04-22] Being afraid does not mean you're under attack: "On those condemning anti-genocide protests, but not genocide." Found this in a stray tab, meaning someone linked to it, but I haven't noted it before.

  Part of generating the mass movement to put a stop to these atrocities is addressing the way antisemitism is being dishonestly weaponized at this moment. Israel and Zionists continually try to turn antisemitism into both a cudgel and a shield, one they hide their at rocities behind to devastating effect. And Jews are uniquely positioned to disarm this cudgel and expose what lies behind the shield.

• Refik Hodzic: [06-13] Israel's onslaught recalls horrors of Bosnian genocide.

• Adam Horowitz: [06-16] Weekly Briefing: Losing the prophetic: "Jewish theologian Marc H. Ellis died this week at the age of 71. His work on the battle between Empire and the prophetic within contemporary Jewish life is more relevant today than ever."

• Sarah Jones: [06-13] The army officer who resigned over Gaza: Major Harrison Mann, who said, "We were never going to really make a big deal about the Israelis bombing hospitals again."

• Hans Kundnani: [03-15] "Zionism über alles": "The German political establishment has abandoned the belief that the Holocaust gave it a responsibility to humanity and replaced it with a responsibility to Israel alone."

• Erika Lopez/Tascha Shahriari-Parsa: [06-11] We watched Ivy League law reviews censor Palestinian scholars first-hand: "We are editors at Harvard and Columbia journals and saw bureaucracy weaponized to suppress a human rights lawyer's writing on Israel."

• Middle East Eye:

  • [06-12] UN finds at least 14 Israelis likely intentionally killed by own army on 7 October: "New report documents repeated use of so-called Hannibal Directive in which abductees were killed to prevent their capture." If you're wondering why Israel shows so little interest in negotiating for the freedom of hostages, it starts with their preference for killing them rather than letting them be captured in the first place.

  • [06-13] Israel uses medieval trebuchet weapons to ignite Lebanese bushes: "Military confirms use of ancient catapult to launch incendiaries aimed at thickets and vegetation in southern Lebanon."

• Jo-Ann Mort: [06-14] When protests cross into antisemitism, it hurts the Palestinian cause: Why? If something is so wrong as to merit protesting, that should be the end of it. No one should change their opinion on an issue because you like or dislike the protesters. At most, bad protesters create a second issue deserving reproach, but that should have no bearing on the original issue.

• Anna Rajagopal: [06-13] No need for 'Jewish values' in the fight for Palestine: No need, in the sense that one doesn't need to be Jewish to oppose Israeli genocide in Gaza, or that even if one is Jewish, it is still possible to prefer more universal secular grounds for one's opposition. Still, I don't see any harm; if anything, it seems like a useful corrective against supporters of genocide claiming their faith directs them. But the author goes on to argue that "doing so reinforces the very ideology we seek to dismantle," and that strikes me as dangerous nonsense. I also question the political wisdom of pushing "Palestinian liberation" ahead of a simple (and universal) end to genocide, violence, and injustice. We might be better off admitting that Ben Gurion's dictum that "it only matters what the Jews do" has never been more true than in Gaza today. No amount of Palestinian flag waving is going to change that. But convincing Jews that their faith does not command them to murder might actually help.

• Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Santa Cruz: [06-12] "We are going to hurt you": UC Santa Cruz chancellor unleashes police mayhem against student protesters.

• Prem Thakker: Columbia Law Review is back online after students threatened work stoppage over Palestine censorship.

• University of Edinburgh Students and Staff Divestment Movement: [06-16] Divestment at the University of Edinburgh: Breaking from Balfour's colonial legacy.

• Philip Weiss: [06-16] NYT's fatuous effort to preserve Black-Jewish coalition sweeps genocide under the rug.

Election notes:

• Aaron Blake: [06-12] Democrats' surprisingly close Ohio special election loss, in context: "Democrat Michael Kripchak lost by less than 10 points in a district Donald Trump carried by 29 in 2020. It's merely the latest Democratic over-performance, but what does it mean?" Looking at the difference in spending -- $571,000 to $7,000 -- is that Democrats are way too quick to write off districts as hopeless losers, rather than trying to figure out what it takes to win them.

• Nate Cohn: [06-15] If everyone voted, would Biden benefit? Not anymore. "Inside the unusual dynamic shaping the 2024 campaign." This follows up, and doubles down, on Cohn's [05-24] The shaky foundation of Trump's lead: disengaged voters. The assumption is that they won't think any harder in November than they did when they answered the silly pollster's question.

• Bob Dreyfuss: [06-16] The Middle East and election 2024: Trump or Biden on Israel? This is not a question I agonize over, but if you've ever been moved to rail against "Genocide Joe," maybe you should give Dreyfus a chance.

• Margaret Hartmann: [06-15] All the details on Trump & Biden's weirdly early 2024 debate.

• Ed Kilgore:

  • [06-12] Abortion rights look set to sweep again on November ballot: "Abortion referendums could be on the ballot in as many as ten states, and polls show a win for the pro-choice cause is possible in all of them."

  • [06-13] Southern Baptists' attack on IVF will likely backfire: "A resolution calling for restrictions on IVF treatments is far out of line with lay opinion. It may hurt Baptists more than it hurts IVF."

• Rick Perlstein: [06-12] Remembrance of ratf**ks past: "As Cornel West is receiving ballot access help from Republicans, 20 years ago Al Sharpton's campaign for president was largely orchestrated by Roger Stone."

Trump:

• Isaac Arnsdorf: [06-15] Trump portrays rampant crime in speech at Black church in Detroit: "The audience, which was not predominantly Black, cheered at the remark."

• Michelle Boorstein/Hannah Knowles: [06-13] Here's what the Christian right wants from a second Trump term. Mostly what you'd expect from sex-obsessed repressives, although politicizing the FDA to ban abortion drugs, and using the Comstock Act to prosecute their distribution, jump out.

• Nandika Chatterjee: [06-14] "Could not keep a straight thought": CEOs worry about Trump's mental decline after "meandering" talk. Steve M. wrote a comment about this story: [06-15] Did these CEOs only notice Trump's ignorance and incoherence now?

• Chauncey DeVega: [05-22] How Trump's hidden Nazi messages help conceal his open antisemitism.

• Griffin Eckstein: [06-13] House Republican wants to re-name the US coastline after Trump: Florida Rep. Greg Steube.

• Lisa Friedman: [06-14] Trump promised to revive goal. Now, he rarely mentions it.

• Susan B Glasser: [06-13] Happy seventy-eighth birthday, Mr. Ex-President: "If ever there were a case for age-related diminishment of a candidate, Donald Trump is it."

• Paul Kiel/Russ Buettner: [06-10] "He ripped off the tax system": IRS audit could cost Trump more than $100 million.

• Anna Massoglia: [06-16] Trump uses convictions to fundraise after millions of donations go to legal costs.

• Dana Milbank: [06-14] You have no idea how hard it is to be Donald Trump: "Decapitation, electrocution and expectoration are just a few of the emerging hazards."

• Gregory Nolan: [06-14] The legal case for sentencing Trump to prison.

• Heather Digby Parton:

  • [06-07] Worse than inflation: Let's remember Trump's real record in office.

  • [06-14] Republicans' Capitol Hill pep rally for Trump's return was a flop.

• Christian Paz: [06-14] How Trump gets away with being so old: Three theories, the most telling one is that with all the indictments, trials, and other scandals, Trump gives them other things to write about.

• Hafiz Rashid: Lindsey Graham's totally spineless birthday message to Trump.

• Sam Sutton: [04-10] Never mind: Wall Street titans shake off qualms and embrace Trump. Steve M. comments: [06-10] I hope you're sitting down for the shocking news that rich people want Trump to win:

  Trump and his supporters have argued that his indictments and recent conviction should make him more appealing to Black people. Maybe that's true -- not of Black people, but of plutocrats. After all, plutocrats regularly engage in skeezy behavior and use a lot of non-disclosure agreements. They generally think they should be above the law, and in this country they usually are. While Balzac didn't exactly say, "Behind every great fortune there is a crime," there's quite a bit of truth in that aphorism.

• Charlie Savage/Jonathan Swan/Maggie Haberman: [06-16] If Trump wins: I mentioned this piece in last week's update, but didn't comment. I thought maybe I'd do a bullet list version this week, but again find no time for that. This is a fair account of what Trump says he would like to do. It underrates many of the (in many cases worse) things that his Republican minions would do on their own if they had the power and opportunity. In all cases, much depends on how much power and opportunity they get, which is to say on how big they can win. Trump was somewhat restrained in 2017 because he didn't enter with much of a mandate (and lost the House in 2019), because he was out of synch with his Congressional leadership, because he relied on the Republican establishment for most of his personnel decisions, because much of government still functioned as usual, and because he understood very little of how government works and what he could and could not do about it.

  Assuming Republicans control Congress after 2024, which is at least as realistic as Trump winning, most of his past limits will be much diminished -- though some will continue to slow him down, as will inertia, plus business lobbies will continue to pursue their own agendas. There is also the problem that much of what he wants to do is profoundly unpopular, so he can expect grass roots opposition and mobilization, plus a somewhat less than fawning media. And as much of what he wants to do is not just unpopular but counterproductive and/or dysfunctional, he will soon find his administration mired in crises. And as it's unlikely he'll be able to prevent future elections, in due course he'll be out on his ass, probably even more rudely than in 2020. Imaging how this might all work out might make for an amusing parlor game, but living through it is going to be tough. Better to go with "an ounce of prevention" and let the Democrats try to fend their way through the crises and rubble. At least they will pretend to care, and try to do something to help out.

  By the way, the section on "Retreat from military engagement with Europe" is the least likely to happen, and not just because it's the only one that might actually be for the better. The military-industrial complex is the driving force here, and it has enormous depth and inertia in Washington, while Trump has very little desire to actually change the "deep state" he likes to deride. As with "the swamp," Trump's real goal is not to "drain" or change anything, but to capture its loyalty for his personal vanities. There's no reason to doubt that they can develop into some kind of mutual admiration society. (For a cautious explanation of how that would work, see Rosa Brooks On the military in a fascist America.)

And other Republicans:

• Ryan Cooper: [06-06] The Republican Party is coming for birth control.

• Robert Downen/Juan Salinas II: [06-13] "War on white America": Ted Cruz-linked Texas group hosting pro-Christian nationalism conference: True Texas Project.

• Anna North: [06-13] The Christian right is coming for divorce next: "Some conservatives want to make it a lot harder to dissolve a marriage." Filed under Republicans, because they're the de facto political arm of the Christian right, and it's through them that they seek to control every aspect of your life.

• Hafiz Rashid: Lara Trump's new election threat is proof irony is dead: "The RNC chair seemed to be missing one giant elephant in the room when making her threat."

• Lori Rozsa: [06-15] DeSantis rejects climate change rationale for record-breaking rain: Nothing to see, let alone think about, here.

• Li Zhou: [06-12] The House GOP's latest bid to make Merrick Garland a villain: "Republicans' vote to hold him in contempt, briefly explained."

Biden and/or the Democrats:

• Yasmeen Abutaleb: [06-16] Biden, Obama warn of Trump dangers in star-studded L.A. fundraiser.

• David Atkins: [06-07] Democrats should run against the Supreme Court: "And they should take on more than the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They ought to campaign against the whole Trump-enabled, rights-stealing, gift-taking conservative supermajority." Of course they should, and to some extent they clearly are, although their message hasn't been fully articulated yet. But it shouldn't be: if we win, we're going to pack the Court. It should be to win big in Congress and the Presidency, then pass popular laws, daring the Court to strike them down. Either the Court will back down, or discredit itself. Either way, win more elections, and appoint better judges. Eventually, like FDR, you will win.

• Zachary D Carter: [06-10] Inflation is not destroying Joe Biden.

• David Dayen:

  • [06-14] The speech FDR would give: "As economic royalists ally with Trump, we have already seen an example of a rhetorical counter that tells it like it is."

  • [06-12] Fighting corporate pricing schemes is incredibly good politics: "A bill in the House attacking junk fees gets broad bipartisan support."

• Chauncey DeVega:

  • [05-23] "The American Dream is dying": Democrats' main selling point "is not a winning message": Interview with M Steven Fish, who has a new book, Comeback: Routing Trumpism, Reclaiming the Nation, and Restoring Democracy's Edge. He mostly thinks that Democrats need to become better story tellers, especially about themselves being "fearless leaders, tough fighters, and fierce patriots." This continues an interview that started here:

  • [05-21] "Trump is all dominance, all the time": New research reveals "his most formidable political asset": "M Steven Fish explains the way Trump's 'character defects manifest what looks like bravery.'" Or, more often I find, assholery.

  • [05-20] When Trump gets dark, Biden goes light: "What their campaign emails say about Joe Biden and Donald Trump."

• Pramila Jayapal: [06-03] The Congressional Progressive Caucus agenda for 2025.

• Eric Levitz: [06-13] Biden is on track to beat inflation and lose the presidency: "The data on prices is getting better, but the public's disapproval of the president remains unchanged."

• David Masciotra: [06-14] Hillary Clinton, truth teller: "Republicans, the media, and plenty of Democrats were shocked -- shocked! -- to hear her say anti-Israel protestors don't know Middle Eastern history and to suggest prejudice might animate a large swatch of Trump voters." As soon as I saw this title, my mind offered a quick edit to the title: "truth teller for sale." Of course, that's not totally accurate: she is so attuned to the whims and wishes of her donors that she doesn't have to wait for the checks to clear. But is what she says about those who protest against Israeli policies true? I don't doubt that she's a very smart person who has been thoroughly schooled in the fine arts of hasbara, but I'm pretty sure I know a lot more Middle Eastern history than she does, and for good measure I'd drop American history into the mix. (Actually, her quote seems to be "that most 'young people' don't know the history of 'many area of the world, including our own country.'")

  Or at least, I understand what I know a lot better than she does. Not for a minute did I ever think invading Iraq would be a good idea. As for other protestors, some may be less knowledgeable, but some know even more than I do: for instance, the author picks on Juan Cole ("an academic popular with the hard left who consistently defends the brutality of Iran and flirts with antisemitism" -- link on Iran, which actually goes to a 2006 article by neocon-convert Christopher Hitchens, but not on antisemitism), who has written many useful books on the region and who runs a website that has consistently earned its "Informed Comment" moniker for more than 20 years.

  While understanding history can help you sort out arguments, which side you take depends more on how you respond to one very simple question: does the sympathy/respect you feel for Jews in Israel allow for or deny sympathy/respect for Palestinians? Or you can reverse the question either way (swap the people, or swap the sentiment to "disdain/disinterest"). Any way you slice it, people who respect all others as people will recoil from the treatment of Israelis against Palestinians, and therefore be critical of the current Israeli regime. History may help you to understand why this particular state happened, and maybe even how it might be changed. It will certainly suggest much about what happens if the current hatreds are allowed to continue and fester. But whether you care depends more on what kind of person you are. And Hillary Clinton's insensitivity and arrogance tells you much about what kind of person she is, which is someone whose only guiding principle is the pursuit of power. The willingness to say unpleasant things in that cause doesn't make you an oracle. It may just mean you're an asshole.

  By the way, Masciotra doesn't stop with Clinton's shilling for the Israel lobby. He still wants to defend her 2016 campaign "basket of deplorables" gaffe, which even she apologized for at the time. He seems to think that if she hadn't spilled the beans, nobody would have realized that lots of racists supported Trump because they recognized in him a fellow racist. (Clinton didn't put it that precisely. She said "deplorable" instead of racist, a code that her fellow liberals recognized while it just seemed snobby to the racists. And by saying "many" she got taken for "most," leaving the rest free to take umbrage over the generalization.) He also bothers to quote and defend Clinton's "truth" about Bernie Sanders: "Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him. He got nothing done." You'd think that a truther would be more concerned with what Sanders was proven right about than with how much lobby-backed legislation he lent his name to, but evidently not. What did Clinton ever accomplish that wasn't in the service to well-heeled lobbyists? I mean, aside from losing an election to Donald Trump?

• Juan Cole: [05-11] Macklemore's understanding of Palestinian history beats Hillary Clinton's.

• Hamid Dabashi: [06-10] Hillary Clinton fails to grasp the moral power of this turning tide: "This is a symptom of her limited imperial imagination."

• John Nichols: [06-14] Hillary Clinton just made the wrong choice in one of 2024's most crucial races: She's endorsed the AIPAC candidate running against Jamaal Bowman.

• Hadas Thier: [06-13] Why so much depends upon Jamaal Bowman being AIPAC.

• Nicole Narea: [06-11] Biden's overlooked campaign to protect Americans from Big Business: "Many Americans are focused on inflation, but from Big Tech to junk fees, Biden is advancing a pro-consumer agenda." I think this sort of thing is very important, and a very stark contrast to the Trump embrace of kleptocracy, fraud, and business criminality (which, as should be clear by now, he not only enables and excuses, but has vast experience engaging in).

• Christian Paz: [06-12] Are LGBTQ voters about to abandon Biden? One of those things I refuse to worry about. If Democrats could ever figure out how to get most of the votes from all the people who would be better served by Democrats rather than Republicans winning, they wouldn't have to subdivide their message into constituent identity groups, many of which don't want to hear about each other, let alone what they perceive as pandering to others. On the other hand, if you do identify as a member of a group Republicans are orchestrating hate against, are you really going to hurt yourself just so you can spite Biden? At some point between now and November, you're going to have to wake up and smell the sewer, and decide whether drown in it or escape. Then do the grown up thing and vote.

• Stephen Prager:

  • [06-14] Moving right on immigration is both cruel and politically reckless. I'm pretty ambivalent, and not very interested, in this excessively noisy issue. But I have found that Republicans inevitably win any contest over who's the real right-wing asshole.

  • [06-16] Democrats, contempt will not win you the election: "Telling voters their opinions don't matter will not persuade them to vote for you." Pictured here: Hillary Clinton, John Fetterman.

• Michael Tomasky: [06-14] There's a new "silent majority" out there -- and it is not conservative: "Ever since Richard Nixon used the phrase, it's been a Republican thing. But the Republicans are the extremists now, and the Silent Majority isn't what it was in 1969." I think there's a lot to be said for this point, but it's hard to figure out how to use it.

• Dylan Wells: [06-15] Meet the 24-year-old trying to solve Biden's problems with young voters: "Eve Levenson, the Biden campaign's national youth engagement director, may have one of the hardest jobs in American politics." Maybe because it's defined by a meaningless artifact of polling?

Hunter Biden: The jury convicted him on all three counts, with a possible maximum sentence of 25 years in jail. I'm surprised that I find this as disturbing as I do. I never liked the father, and find the son to be nothing but nepotistic scum. But he was charged with a crime that shouldn't be illegal, and convicted on evidence that shouldn't be admissable, only because Republicans in Congress (and the Special Prosecutor's office, and evidently the courts) through a hissy fit when he agreed to plead the charge down to near-nothing (more of a compromise than he should have had to do). That the jury went along with this sham is just more evidence of how rigged the system is against defendants. Moreover, because the defendant isn't Trump, Democrats are biting their tongues and expressing their pride in a very corrupt justice system, while Biden won't consider a pardon because he believes that would look bad (like he's playing politics with justice) -- totally the opposite of what Trump has done all along.

• Jim Newell: [06-15] A scheming father's nefarious plot to convict his son in federal court. I wonder what the term is for the polar opposite of Ockham's Razor?

• Andrew Prokop:

  • [06-11] Hunter Biden's gun conviction, briefly explained.

  • [06-12] The truth about Hunter Biden's conviction: "Hunter Biden's trial may be over, but the political spin war over it is nowhere near ending." I don't see much truth here, just a catalog of possible spins, none of which are terribly convincing.

• Jennifer Rubin: [06-16] The Hunter Biden and Trump trials were a litmus test. Only the Bidens passed. About as gracefully as they usually pass. The dis that "Trump family members were conspicuously absent" isn't fair, either: Eric was by far the most supportive family member -- habitually overlooked, probably perhaps because he makes the chore look so pathetic.

• Alexander Sammon: You'll never believe how Fox News is responding to the Hunter Biden trial.

• Bill Scher: [06-11] Trump's "weaponization" narrative just got shot down: If anything, this case just proves how often and easily DOJ prosecutions can be used for political vendettas. The mechanism of using a "special prosecutor" was the same. In both cases the pretense of avoiding partisanship only reinforced it.

• Steve M.: [06-12] Sadly, after the Hunter Biden verdict, the GOP's justice-system paranoia is still alive and well.

Legal matters and other crimes:

• Shirin Ali/Braden Goyette: [06-14] Sonia Sotomayor points out how quickly the conservative justices will drop their stated principles when it suits them.

• Justin Elliott/Joshua Kaplan/Alex Mierjeski: [06-14] Senate probe reveals more Clarence Thomas trips paid by GOP donor Harlan Crow.

• Matt Ford: The Supreme Court just made future mass shootings even deadlier. Actually, they were pretty clear that Congress has the power to ban bump stocks through appropriate legislation, which they would honor. A fairly large Democratic win in 2024 could fix this problem quickly, and possibly much more.

• Judith Levine: [06-07] US state abortion ban exemptions aren't vague by accident. Uncertainty is the point: "Anti-choice statutes are designed to keep health providers fearful of running afoul of the law. Women suffer for it."

• Dahlia Lithwick/Mark Joseph Stern:

  • [06-13] The Supreme Court's abortion pill ruling should satisfy nobody.

  • [06-15] The group helping the Supreme Court rewrite America's gun laws is worse than the NRA.

• Ian Millhiser:

  • [06-10] Justices Sotomayor and Kagan must retire now: "I am begging the justices to learn from Ruth Bader Ginsburg's historic mistake." I hate this kind of thinking. Sure, it's cool that they browbeat Breyer into retiring early (like when he was 83) so Biden could appoint a much better replacement, but the assumption here is that Trump will win in 2024 and/or Republicans will take over the Senate and refuse to confirm any Democratic nominees, and that Sotomayor (69) and/or Kagan (64) will die before Republicans fall back out of favor, and also that protecting their loser 3-6 minority is very important. Maybe he's right, but even if he is, this is the least of our problems. FDR inherited a really lousy Supreme Court, but he fixed that by winning elections and holding on longer than his enemies. Democrats need to learn how to do that again.

  • [06-13] The Supreme Court's abortion pill case is only a narrow and temporary victory for abortion: "The decision is unanimous, but it leaves open two routes Republicans could take to pull mifepristone from the market."

  • [06-14] The Supreme Court just effectively legalized machine guns.

• Andrew Perez: [06-03] The most ridiculous, right-wing Supreme Court that dark money could buy.

• Reva Siegel/Mary Ziegler: [06-14] The Supreme Court just laid out a road map for Trump to ban abortion nationwide.

Climate and environment:

• Matthew Cappucci:

  • [06-13] Record rains hit South Florida, causing disastrous flooding.

  • [06-16] Eastern US braces for extreme, long-lasting heat wave: How hot it will get.

• Ian Livingston: [06-14] Tropical storm could form in the Gulf of Mexico next week.

• Olivia Rosane: [06-16] From western fire to eastern heat, fossil-fueled extremes menace US.

Economic matters:

• American Prospect: Their June 2024 issue promises to expose: "How Pricing Really Works: The many innovations corporations have devised to get you to pay more." Here are some articles:

  • [06-14] The underbelly of the grocery store: "Nothing you see on the shelves is there by accident." How "junk fees, price-fixing, shrinkflation, personalization, and data collection -- come together at the grocery store. Every product's placement, every advertisement, every coupon is a function of marketing wizardry and hardball tactics, in a bid for the eyes and wallets of consumers."

  • [06-14] Lina Khan: Extraction exterminator: "The Federal Trade Commission chair plays a key role in preventing exploitative pricing schemes from taking root." An interview.

  • Bilal Baydoun: [06-14] Taming the pricing beast: "The government has a variety of strategies to protect the public from price-gouging and information advantages over the consumer."

  • David Dayen: [06-04] One person one price: "Digital surveillance and customer isolation are individualizing the prices we pay."

  • David Dayen/Lindsay Owens: [06-03] The age of recoupment: "How power, technology, and opportunity have come together to gouge consumers."

  • Jarod Facundo: [06-12] War in the aisles: "Monopolies across the grocery supply chain squeeze consumers and small-business owners alike. Big Data will only entrench those dynamics further."

  • Luke Goldstein: [06-05] Three algorithms in a room: "A growing number of industries are using software to fix prices. Law enforces are beginning to fight back."

  • Sarah Jaffe: [06-07] The urge to surge: "Businesses are hiking prices to take advantage of consumers. They learned it from Uber."

  • Hassan Ali Kanu: [06-06] Loaded up with junk: "Extra profits are the only explanation for many fees businesses charge."

  • Robert Kuttner: [06-13] Fantasyland general: "Hospital pricing is impenetrable to consumers and regulators alike. The result: increased costs and profits, and wasteful reliance on armies of middlemen."

  • Joanna Marsh: [06-10] The one-click economy: "Digital subscriptions are here to stay. What should we do about that?"

  • Kalena Thomhave: [06-11] What we owe: "The big banks behind the rising cost of credit."

Ukraine War and Russia:

• Kyle Anzalone: [06-14] Putin makes public peace offer to Ukraine: He wants Ukraine to cede the four oblasts Russia has largely occupied since early in the war -- three of which Ukraine partially controls, so would have to withdraw from. Also to agree not to join NATO, and for US sanctions to end. A more realistic proposal would be to accept the current front lines (possibly with Russia withdrawing from recently acquired territory near Kharkiv, with future plebiscites to formalize the division, and the other issues depending on the further recession of threats and normalization of relations. Even that is way short of Zelensky's terms, which (not very realstically) assume he can fight as long as or longer than Putin.

• Nandika Chatterjee: [06-16] Trump criticizes US aid to Ukraine, promises to "have that settled" if reelected.

• Artin Dersimonian: [06-11] US lifts ban on neo-nazi linked Azov Brigade in Ukraine. I don't know that "easing the restrictions shows how desperate the battlefield situation has become," but this is hardly the first time the US has been willing to overlook a little fascism given a common enemy.

• Anatol Lieven: [06-14] What the Swiss 'peace summit' can realistically achieve: "Talks in Geneva this weekend won't end the war, particularly seeing that Russia wasn't invited, but they may prove useful."

• Blaise Malley:

  • [06-10] Congress: Let Ukraine hit more targets inside Russia with US weapons: "Getting us one step closer to a direct war with Moscow."

  • Blaise Malley: [06-14] Diplomacy Watch: At G7 summit, West works to reassure Ukraine: "Not much of the news coming out of Ukraine in recent months has been particularly positive."

America's empire and the world:

• Jess Craig: [06-12] We're in a new era of conflict and crisis. Can humanitarian aid keep up? "Utter neglect of displaced people has become the new normal."

  Last year, more than 360 million people worldwide needed humanitarian assistance. To cover the costs of aid, the United Nations appealed to global donors -- primarily governments but also philanthropic individuals and institutes -- for a record $56 billion.

  But even as humanitarian needs peaked, funding for aid dwindled to its lowest levels since 2019. Less than half of that $56 billion was raised. As a result, the gap between global humanitarian funding needs and donor contributions reached its highest level in more than 20 years.

  And that's not the worst part. What funding was available was not allocated equitably across the world's crises. Conflicts in the Global South went vastly underfunded. Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), a major humanitarian organization, published its annual ranking of the world's most neglected displacement crises. Nine of 10 were in Africa.

• Ellen Ioanes:

  • [06-10] Why Europe is lurching to the right: "Far-right parties made big gains in EU Parliament elections -- and that's already having an effect." One thing I'll admit is that I've never had the slightest understanding of how the EU Parliament works or what, if anything, it is capable of doing. As near as I've been able to figure out, the EU seems to be a cloistered bureaucracy mostly concerned with economic matters, tightly controlled by a neoliberal oligarchy that is very well insulated against possible encroachments from the Democratic left -- who when they do manage to win elections, get beat down like Syriza in Greece. It is similarly unclear whether the right can have any real impact in the EU Parliament, although I suppose it might afford them an arena the one thing they specialize in, which is irritable gesticulating. Also on the EU elections:

    • Molly O'Neal: [06-15] How much did the right really gain in Europe? "The center will hold in Brussels after the parliament elections; the real story is France and Germany."

  • [06-13] The fracturing of South African politics, explained: "What the defeat of the party that ended apartheid means for South Africa."

• Hafsa Kanjwal: [06-13] How India is implementing the 'Israel model' in Kashmir.

• Peter Oborne: [06-11] Tory Britain is about to fall. But what follows could be far worse: "The Conservatives have traditionally acted as a buffer against fascist forces. But after the impending electoral defeat, Farage and the far right are poised to win control of the party."

• Vijay Prashad: [06-07] Migrating workers provide wealth for the world.

Other stories:

Erin Blakemore: [06-08] Tens of millions of acres of cropland lie abandoned, study shows: "The biggest changes took place around the Ogallala Aquifer, whose groundwater irrigates parts of numerous states, including Colorado, Texas and Wyoming."

Vivian Gornick: [06-06] Orgasm isn't my bag: A review of Trish Romano: The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture. If it seems like I'm collecting reviews of this book, perhaps that means I should write my own. I read it, and perhaps more importantly, I lived it -- starting as a clueless subscriber in the 1960s.

Balaji Ravichandran: [06-12] Imperialilsm isn't in the past. Neither is the damage it did. A review of Charlotte Lydia Riley: Imperial Island: An Alternative History of the British Empire. Few subjects are more deserving of "a withering indictment" than the British Empire. The "damage done" to the rest of the world has been extensively documented, although little of it has sunk into the Churchill-worshipping cliques in the US and UK. What's far less well understood are the lingering distortions within British politics, and not just for the feedback immigration, which has become conspicuous of late.

Nathan J Robinson: [2018-12-07] Lessons from Chomsky: "Some things I've learned from his writings . . ."

Becca Rothfeld: [06-13] Donald Trump didn't spark out current political chaos. The '90s did. Review of John Ganz: When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s. Histories of 1990s US politics tend to feature the main event of Gingrich vs. Clinton, but I can see where focusing on fringe-crazy might offer some insights. Also on Ganz:

• Jennifer Szalai: [06-12] The 1990s were weirder than you think. We're feeling the effects.

Music and other arts:

David Hajdu: [06-11] Seeing ourselves in Joni Mitchell: Review of Ann Powers' "deeply personal biography of Joni Mitchell": Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell. For another review:

• Francine Prose: [06-16] What we think about when we think about Joni Mitchell.

Brad Luen: [06-16] Semipop Life: A very high shelf.

Michael Tatum: Books read (and not read): June 2024: I jumped straight to Trish Romano's The Freaks Came Out to Write, as that's the one I've actually read.

Midyear reports: I've been factoring these into my metacritic file.

• Esquire [Alan Light]: [05-20] The best albums of 2024 (so far).

• The Guardian: [06-12] The best albums of 2024 so far.

• Mojo: [06-13] The best albums of 2024 so far.

• Rolling Stone: [06-11] The best albums of 2024 so far.

• Ultimate Classic Rock: [06-13] Top 15 rock albums of 2024 (so far).

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