Senator Michael Bennet on His Long-Shot Bid for the Presidency
Listen with: iTunes WNYC Stitcher TuneIn In May, the Colorado senator Michael Bennet became the nineteenth Democrat to announce that he was running for the Party’s Presidential nomination. He is among the most experienced and respected candidates: prior to his decade as a Democratic senator from a purple state, he was the chief of staff…
Cory Booker Tests the Power of His Best Performance at the Democratic Debate
Cory Booker did well on Wednesday night. He hit his talking points (a few minutes after he said that Congress should pursue the impeachment of Donald Trump, “the politics of this be damned,” his campaign e-mailed out a press release with the subject line “Politics, be damned”) and brought race into the debate in purposeful…
The Battle Over Barack Obama’s Legacy at the Democratic Debates
When the 2020 Presidential campaign began, earlier this year, with more than twenty Democratic candidates crossing the starting line, there was a widespread assumption that the contest would be dominated by the presence of Donald Trump, the most polarizing President in living memory. As far as the general election goes, that operating assumption may still…
The Stunning Grounds, and Tragic History, of the Lost Gardens of Heligan
Click:Pyramid tea bag packing machine I don’t understand the point of garden visits. Why do ordinary people, the owners of mere balconies and tiny yards, torment themselves by touring other people’s grand estates? Nut trees, stables, ancestral compost heaps: I need no reminder of what I am missing. So, unlike virtually every other gardener in…
What to Expect on the Second Night of the Democratic Debate
Wednesday night’s Democratic-primary debate in Detroit will, in some sense, be the memorial service of the first phase of the 2020 Presidential race. This is the last time that the front-runners will be forced onto a stage beside challengers polling below levels detectable with mortal instruments. At the next official debates, scheduled for mid-September, the…
The Whitney Biennial Protests and the Changing Standards of Accountability in Art
Anybody who doubts the power of artists to effect real-world change is not keeping up with the news. Earlier this month, the Louvre became the latest major museum to cut financial ties with the Sackler family, following pressure from the photographer Nan Goldin and her crew of anti-opioid activists. And, last week, on July 25th,…