Monday, July 13, 2026

이병한의 어메리카 탐문에서 다루는 주제를 다루는 미국 책들

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이병한의 어메리카 탐문 책에서 다루는 주제를 다루는 미국 책들을 소개해주세요.
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1. 피터 틸과 실리콘밸리 올리가르히의 실체를 해부한 책

<반골: 피터 틸과 실리콘밸리 올리가르히의 부상> (원제: The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and the Rise of the Silicon Valley Oligarchs / 맥스 차프킨 저)

  • 핵심 내용: <아메리카 탐문>의 가장 중추적인 사상적 대부인 피터 틸을 정면으로 다룬 본격 비평 전기다. 저자는 피터 틸이 어떻게 실리콘밸리의 극단적 자유주의를 넘어 워싱턴의 권력 중심부로 진입했는지를 추적한다. 특히 그가 후원한 정치적 제자 J.D. 밴스와의 관계, 도널드 트럼프 진영과의 결탁 과정을 치밀하게 폭로하며 기술 자본이 어떻게 미국의 민주주의 체제를 막후에서 흔들고 있는지 보여준다.

2. 신우파와 기술 권위주의의 사상적 뿌리를 추적한 책

<신우파: 미국 정치의 변두리로 떠나는 여행> (원제: The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics / 마이클 말리스 저)

  • 핵심 내용: 기존의 온건한 보수주의와 결별하고 미국 정치를 뒤흔들고 있는 '신우파(New Right)' 운동의 사상적 지형을 내부자적 시각에서 기록한 책이다. 인터넷 트롤, 가속주의자, 테크노-아나키스트, 그리고 피터 틸 등이 영감을 받은 신재반동주의(Neo-reactionary) 사상이 어떻게 미국의 주류 정치 체제를 붕괴시키려 하는지 그 계보를 상세히 탐구한다.

3. 빅데이터와 AI 기술이 국가 권력과 결합한 감시 사회를 고발한 책

<테크 쿠데타: 실리콘밸리로부터 어떻게 민주주의를 구할 것인가> (원제: The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley / 마리etje 샤케 저)

  • 핵심 내용: 알렉스 카프의 팔란티어로 대변되는 빅데이터, AI 기술 기업들이 어떻게 국가의 고유 기능(안보, 정보 감시, 행정)을 잠식하고 있는지를 다룬다. 저자는 거대 테크 기업들이 단순한 비즈니스를 넘어 사실상 선출되지 않은 권력으로서 대중을 지배하는 '테크 쿠데타'를 감행하고 있다고 경고하며, 이 독점적 기술 권력이 민주적 법치주의를 어떻게 훼손하는지 날카롭게 비판한다.

4. 러스트 벨트의 절망과 신우파 정치의 탄생을 알린 고전

<힐빌리의 노래> (원제: Hillbilly Elegy / J.D. 밴스 저)

  • 핵심 내용: <아메리카 탐문>에서 신우파 정치의 기수로 등장하는 J.D. 밴스 본인의 자전적 에세이다. 백인 하층 노동자 계급의 문화적 붕괴와 절망을 생생하게 증언한 이 책은, 왜 미국의 소외된 대중이 기존 민주당 엘리트의 자유주의 노선에 분노하고 일론 머스크나 피터 틸 같은 기술 영웅, 그리고 포퓰리즘 정치에 열광하게 되었는지를 이해할 수 있는 감정적·사회적 배경을 제공한다.

이 책들은 실리콘밸리의 압도적인 기술력이 미국의 쇠락한 노동자 계급의 정치적 분노와 결합하여 어떻게 팍스 아메리카나의 새로운 질서를 재편하고 있는지 다각도로 조망할 수 있는 텍스트들이다.

세진님, 소개된 책들 중에서 특별히 관심이 가거나 저자의 사상적 배경을 더 자세히 알고 싶은 도서가 있으신가요?

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이병한의 <아메리카 탐문>과 가장 가까운 미국 책들은 크게 세 종류로 나뉩니다.

첫째는 피터 틸·머스크·팔란티어 같은 인물을 직접 추적하는 책, 

둘째는 이들이 공유하는 신우파·포스트리버럴 사상을 설명하는 책, 

셋째는 기술기업과 국가권력의 결합을 비판적으로 분석하는 책입니다.

1. 가장 먼저 읽을 책

1) Max Chafkin, <The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power>

맥스 채프킨, <반대자―피터 틸과 실리콘밸리의 권력 추구>, 2021

<아메리카 탐문>과 가장 직접적으로 겹치는 책입니다. 피터 틸의 성장 과정, 페이팔과 팔란티어 창업, 실리콘밸리 인맥, 트럼프와 J.D. 밴스에 대한 정치적 후원을 추적합니다.

특히 이 책은 틸을 독특한 기업가 한 사람이 아니라 실리콘밸리의 경제권력을 정치권력으로 전환시킨 조직가로 묘사합니다. 틸이 자유시장주의자이면서도 경쟁보다 독점을 선호하고, 개인의 자유를 말하면서 민주주의에는 회의적이라는 모순도 잘 보여줍니다. 출판사는 이 책을 틸의 전기인 동시에 실리콘밸리의 성장과 권력을 분석한 책으로 소개합니다.

이병한의 책이 틸의 사상을 비교적 문명사적으로 해석한다면, 채프킨은 취재와 인물 추적을 통해 그 권력이 실제로 형성된 과정을 보여줍니다.

<추천도: 최우선>


2) Jacob Silverman, <Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley>

제이컵 실버먼, <도금된 분노―일론 머스크와 실리콘밸리의 급진화>, 2025

머스크 개인의 전기라기보다 실리콘밸리 억만장자들이 어떻게 자유주의적·세계시민적 이미지를 버리고 우파 정치와 결합했는지를 분석합니다.

저자는 저금리 시대에 막대한 부를 축적한 기술기업가들이 자신을 인류의 구원자로 여기게 되었고, 그 자기신화가 정치적 극단주의로 발전했다고 봅니다. 머스크뿐 아니라 피터 틸, 마크 앤드리슨 등 기술 엘리트 집단 전체를 다룬다는 점에서 <아메리카 탐문>의 문제의식과 매우 가깝습니다.

다만 이병한이 이들의 미래 구상에 일정한 지적 관심과 매혹을 보인다면, 실버먼은 훨씬 더 비판적입니다. 두 책을 함께 읽으면 균형이 맞습니다.

<추천도: 최우선>


3) Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska, <The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West>

알렉산더 카프·니컬러스 자미스카, <기술공화국―하드파워, 신념 그리고 서구의 미래>, 2025

팔란티어 CEO 알렉스 카프가 직접 자신의 사상을 설명한 책입니다. 따라서 외부 관찰이 아니라 <아메리카 탐문>에 등장하는 주인공의 선언문에 해당합니다.

카프는 실리콘밸리가 광고, 쇼핑, 소셜미디어처럼 소비자의 편의를 높이는 기술에 몰두하면서 국가안보, 국방, 우주, 공공 인프라 같은 거대한 과제를 외면했다고 비판합니다. 미국과 서구가 인공지능 군비경쟁에서 살아남으려면 기술기업이 정부 및 군대와 적극 협력해야 한다고 주장합니다.

이 책의 핵심은 다음과 같습니다.

<기술은 중립적이지 않으며, 기술자는 자신이 지키려는 문명과 국가를 선택해야 한다.>

이는 <아메리카 탐문>에서 설명한 ‘실리콘밸리와 군산복합체의 결합’을 당사자의 언어로 확인하게 해줍니다. 그러나 카프가 자유민주주의를 지키기 위해 감시기술과 군사적 인공지능을 강화해야 한다고 주장한다는 점에서 심각한 역설이 생깁니다.

<추천도: 최우선>


4) Michael Steinberger, <The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State>

마이클 스타인버거, <실리콘밸리의 철학자―알렉스 카프, 팔란티어와 감시국가의 부상>, 2025

카프와 팔란티어를 외부에서 조사한 전기적 탐사서입니다. 카프의 철학적 배경과 팔란티어의 창업 과정, 정보기관·군대·경찰·이민 단속기관과의 관계를 다룹니다.

<The Technological Republic>가 카프의 자기변론이라면, 이 책은 그 자기변론이 가리는 감시와 권력의 문제를 드러냅니다. 팔란티어가 국가의 행정능력을 높이는 동시에 시민을 추적·분류·예측의 대상으로 만드는 과정을 살펴보기에 좋습니다.

두 책은 반드시 짝으로 읽을 필요가 있습니다.

  • 카프의 주장: <기술로 서구 민주주의를 방어한다>
  • 스타인버거의 질문: <그 기술이 민주주의를 감시국가로 바꾸지는 않는가>

<추천도: 매우 높음>

2. J.D. 밴스와 포스트리버럴 신우파를 이해하는 책

5) Patrick J. Deneen, <Why Liberalism Failed>

패트릭 드닌, <왜 자유주의는 실패했는가>, 2018

J.D. 밴스와 미국의 포스트리버럴 우파를 이해하는 데 가장 중요한 사상서입니다.

드닌은 자유주의가 외부의 적 때문에 실패한 것이 아니라 자유주의 자체의 논리를 충실히 실현했기 때문에 실패했다고 주장합니다. 개인의 자유를 극대화한 결과 공동체, 가족, 종교, 지역문화가 약화되었고, 자유시장은 오히려 극심한 불평등과 거대한 관료국가를 낳았다는 것입니다.

밴스가 왜 전통적인 공화당의 작은 정부·자유시장 노선에서 벗어나 산업정책, 가족보호, 제조업 부흥, 이민 제한을 주장하는지 이해하려면 이 책이 필요합니다.

다만 드닌은 자유주의의 병폐를 예리하게 지적하지만, 자유주의 이후의 질서에서 개인의 권리와 소수자를 어떻게 보호할지는 불분명합니다.

<추천도: 필독>


6) Patrick J. Deneen, <Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future>

패트릭 드닌, <체제 전환―포스트리버럴 미래를 향하여>, 2023

<Why Liberalism Failed>이 자유주의에 대한 진단이라면, <Regime Change>는 그 이후의 정치질서를 제안하는 책입니다.

드닌은 기존의 자유주의 엘리트를 새로운 ‘공익 중심의 엘리트’로 교체해야 한다고 주장합니다. 시장과 국가를 모두 가족, 공동체, 노동, 종교적 가치에 봉사하도록 재편해야 한다는 것입니다.

제목의 ‘체제 전환’은 선거를 통한 단순한 정권교체가 아니라 국가를 지배하는 가치와 계급의 교체를 뜻합니다. 이 점에서 이 책은 <아메리카 탐문>이 묘사한 새로운 미국 우파의 정치적 야심을 가장 노골적으로 보여줍니다.

다만 누가 ‘공익’을 정의하며, 새로운 엘리트가 기존 엘리트보다 더 민주적이라는 보장이 있는지는 여전히 의문입니다.


7) J.D. Vance, <Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis>

J.D. 밴스, <힐빌리의 노래>, 2016

이 책은 밴스의 현재 정치사상을 직접 설명하지는 않습니다. 그러나 밴스가 자신의 정치적 기반으로 삼은 러스트벨트 백인 노동계층의 빈곤, 약물중독, 가족해체, 지역공동체 붕괴를 이해하는 출발점입니다.

중요한 점은 이 책이 처음 출간되었을 때는 가난을 개인의 책임과 문화적 문제로 설명하는 보수적 회고록으로 읽혔지만, 밴스가 이후에는 자유무역·금융세계화·산업 공동화에 대한 구조적 비판으로 이동했다는 것입니다. 밴스의 정치적 급진화와 변신 자체가 미국 신우파의 변화를 보여줍니다.


8) Michael Lind, <The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite>

마이클 린드, <신계급 전쟁―관리자 엘리트로부터 민주주의 구하기>, 2020

미국 정치의 대립을 단순히 좌파와 우파가 아니라 ‘관리자 엘리트’와 노동계급의 충돌로 설명합니다.

린드가 말하는 관리자 엘리트는 대기업, 금융기관, 대학, 언론, 전문직, 관료조직을 장악한 고학력 계층입니다. 이들은 자유무역과 이민, 세계화를 지지하면서 그 비용을 지방과 노동계급에 전가했다고 봅니다.

이 책은 밴스의 러스트벨트 정치와 틸의 반관료주의가 왜 결합할 수 있었는지를 설명합니다. 다만 억만장자 기술기업가가 어떻게 반엘리트 운동의 지도자가 될 수 있는가라는 모순은 충분히 해결하지 못합니다.

3. 기술기업과 국가권력의 결합을 비판하는 책

9) Shoshana Zuboff, <The Age of Surveillance Capitalism>

쇼샤나 주보프, <감시 자본주의 시대>, 2019

구글·페이스북 같은 플랫폼 기업이 인간의 행동을 데이터로 수집하고, 이를 예측하고 조종할 수 있는 상품으로 바꾸었다고 분석합니다.

팔란티어를 직접 중심에 놓지는 않지만, 개인의 경험이 데이터 원료가 되고 기업이 인간의 행동을 수정하는 권력을 갖게 되는 과정을 이론적으로 설명합니다.

카프가 국가안보를 위해 데이터를 통합해야 한다고 주장한다면, 주보프는 바로 그러한 데이터 권력이 민주적 통제를 벗어날 때 어떤 사회가 만들어지는지를 경고합니다.


10) Yasha Levine, <Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet>

야샤 러빈, <감시의 계곡―인터넷의 숨겨진 군사사>, 2018

인터넷이 원래부터 자유와 탈중앙화를 위해 만들어졌다는 실리콘밸리의 신화를 비판합니다.

저자는 인터넷의 기원이 미국 국방부와 군사적 정보처리 사업에 있으며, 구글과 같은 민간 플랫폼과 국가 감시기관의 관계도 단절된 적이 없다고 주장합니다. 팔란티어와 미국 군산기술 체제의 역사적 뿌리를 이해하는 데 매우 유용합니다.

<아메리카 탐문>이 최근의 ‘기술기업과 국가의 재결합’을 강조한다면, 러빈은 애초에 둘이 완전히 분리된 적이 없었다고 말합니다.


11) Kashmir Hill, <Your Face Belongs to Us>

캐시미어 힐, <당신의 얼굴은 우리의 것이다>, 2023

얼굴인식 기업 클리어뷰 AI가 인터넷에서 수십억 장의 얼굴사진을 수집하고 이를 경찰과 기업에 제공한 과정을 추적합니다.

팔란티어와 동일한 기업을 다루지는 않지만, 작은 기술기업이 법률과 공적 토론보다 앞서 대규모 감시 체계를 구축하는 과정을 생생하게 보여줍니다. 출판사는 이 책을 얼굴인식 기술이 법집행기관과 기업에 제공되면서 사생활 자체를 위협한 사건의 기록으로 설명합니다.

추상적인 이론보다 실제 사례를 선호한다면 주보프보다 읽기 쉽습니다.

4. 기술 엘리트가 꿈꾸는 미래를 내부에서 읽는 책

12) Peter Thiel with Blake Masters, <Zero to One>

피터 틸·블레이크 매스터스, <제로 투 원>, 2014

일반적으로 창업서로 알려져 있지만, 사실 틸의 정치철학을 이해하는 기초 문헌입니다.

틸은 경쟁을 자본주의의 미덕으로 보지 않습니다. 경쟁은 모두를 비슷하게 만들고 수익을 소모시키므로, 진정한 혁신기업은 독점을 만들어야 한다고 주장합니다. 그는 합의보다 독창성, 다수의 판단보다 소수 창업자의 통찰을 높이 평가합니다.

이 사고방식을 정치에 적용하면 다음과 같은 결론으로 이어질 수 있습니다.

<민주적 경쟁과 토론보다 뛰어난 설계자의 장기적 결단이 중요하다.>

따라서 이 책은 창업 안내서이면서 틸의 엘리트주의적 세계관을 압축한 책입니다.


13) Balaji Srinivasan, <The Network State: How to Start a New Country>

발라지 스리니바산, <네트워크 국가―새로운 나라를 시작하는 방법>, 2022

온라인 공동체가 암호화폐와 디지털 기술로 조직된 뒤 토지를 매입하고, 궁극적으로 기존 국가와 동등한 외교적 승인을 받는 ‘네트워크 국가’를 만들자는 구상입니다.

이 책은 국가를 역사적 공동체나 민주적 공화국이라기보다 창업할 수 있는 플랫폼으로 봅니다. 시민은 구성원 또는 이용자가 되고, 창업자는 사실상 건국자가 됩니다.

피터 틸 계열의 ‘국가 탈출’, 민간도시, 암호화폐 공동체, 기술 엘리트 통치라는 상상력을 이해하는 데 중요합니다. 동시에 민주주의를 소비자의 선택이나 플랫폼 가입으로 대체하려는 위험도 보여줍니다.

5. 제가 권하는 독서 순서

<아메리카 탐문>의 내용을 더 깊게 이해하려면 다음 순서가 좋습니다.

  1. <The Contrarian>
  2. <Gilded Rage>
  3. <The Technological Republic>
  4. <The Philosopher in the Valley>
  5. <Why Liberalism Failed>
  6. <Regime Change>
  7. <The New Class War>
  8. <Surveillance Valley>
  9. <The Age of Surveillance Capitalism>

이 가운데 세 권만 고른다면 다음 조합이 가장 좋습니다.

  • 인물과 권력: <The Contrarian>
  • 당사자의 선언: <The Technological Republic>
  • 비판적 종합: <Gilded Rage>

결국 <아메리카 탐문>의 주제는 단순히 ‘괴짜 억만장자 네 명’이 아닙니다. 더 큰 질문은 이것입니다.

<민주주의 국가의 미래를 시민과 의회가 아니라 기술기업가, 벤처투자가, 데이터 분석가와 새로운 보수 엘리트가 설계하게 되는가?>

위의 책들은 각각 그 변화의 내부 논리, 사회적 기반, 기술적 수단, 민주주의적 위험을 서로 다른 방향에서 보여줍니다.

Melissa Chaudhry fights for husband's release from ICE custody | king5.com

Melissa Chaudhry fights for husband's release from ICE custody | king5.com


Author: Christian Balderas
Published: 6:21 PM PDT August 24, 2025

Family rallies after longtime resident detained by ICE at citizenship interview
Melissa Chaudhry took her husband to an immigration interview with hopes he'd be granted citizenship. His complicated immigration history may be standing in his way.

TACOMA, Wash. — Outside the Northwest ICE Processing Center, under sweltering heat, Melissa Chaudhry stood alongside her father—a retired veteran— while carrying her two young children, as she called for her husband's release.

“I wish I could say good afternoon, but it is not a good afternoon,” Melissa said to a crowd of supporters. “Something profound has happened.”

On Thursday, her husband, Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry—known to many as Zahid—was taken into ICE custody during a citizenship interview.

Zahid, originally from Pakistan, has lived in the United States for nearly 25 years. He served in the Washington Army National Guard but was medically discharged after sustaining a back injury that left him reliant on a wheelchair, according to Melissa.

“He thought he’d come out a U.S. citizen just a few minutes later,” she said. “I was far less confident, which is why I was up the entire night before preparing for this eventuality.”

Zahid has been pursuing citizenship for years, facing a long and complicated journey.

In 2009, Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging resolution of his case. It said in-part, "His volunteer work with the American Red Cross and the Yakima Police Department, along with his service in the United States Army, has enabled him to make meaningful contributions to both his state and the country he now calls home."

His immigration history, however, is complex.

According to a court document, Zahid pleaded guilty in 1996 to using a false passport and credit card while living in Australia. He entered the U.S. four years later to join his uncle and soon married a woman who helped him apply for permanent residency. At the time, he falsely claimed he had no prior arrests.

In 2001, Zahid was granted permanent residency and was authorized to work in the U.S. He soon enlisted in the Washington National Guard and applied for a reserve position with the Yakima Police Department—again omitting his criminal history.

In 2003, USCIS issued a notice of intent to rescind his residency status for failing to disclose his Australian fraud charges. However, the agency ultimately dropped the case, mistakenly believing Zahid was serving overseas.

Melissa says none of that should matter.

In a statement she wrote, “The immigration judge in March 2018 who reauthorized Zahid’s permanent residence, gave him waivers for any issues pertaining prior to that date. He cannot be deported on those bases… we should not have to relitigate the court of public opinion…” KING 5 could not independently verify this claim, but it's supported by a 2018 article from LiberationNews.org, a publication from the Party for Socialism and Liberation.


A court document shows he applied for naturalization in 2013, but a federal judge denied the request. He has an appeal before the 9th Circuit.


Melissa said she was recently notified that a judgment was imminent—one she believed would be favorable. That same day, Zahid was summoned for the citizenship interview where he was later detained.


“This makes us think it was no coincidence,” she said. “It was planned.”


ICE has not returned a request for comment.
=====
https://www.kuow.org/stories/wife-of-wa-vet-outraged-after-husband-arrested-by-ice-at-citizenship-interview

Wife of WA vet arrested by ICE at citizenship interview speaks out

Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez
August 22, 2025 / 5:55 pm



Muhammed Zahid Chaudhry surrounded by friends, family, and supporters before he went into his citizenship hearing on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2025.
Courtesy of Melissa Chaudhry


A Washington National Guard veteran was arrested Thursday during his final citizenship interview at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in Tukwila. He is now being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.


As of Friday afternoon officials with ICE had not explained to Muhammed Zahid Chaudhry's family why he was detained. ICE has not responded to KUOW’s requests for comment.

Chaudhry's wife Melissa said her husband had spent the past two decades trying to get U.S. citizenship. The last time she saw him was when she pushed his wheelchair into a windowless room for his appointment on Thursday.

“This is a microcosm,” she said. “This is a little, teeny, tiny individual situation that is a reflection of what is at stake for us as a nation.”

RELATED: Secrecy and enforced disappearances: WA human rights group sounds alarm about ICE

Melissa Chaudhry spoke to KUOW over the phone while she was nursing the couple's 8-month-old baby. She had words of encouragement for anyone who goes through a similar ordeal.

Sponsored



“I hope that you decide to do more than you ever thought possible, that you decide to do what you would do if the soul of your soul was taken from you with no warning and no mercy and no explanation,” she said.

Courtesy of Melissa Chaudhry


The U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Service enacted new policies this week that increase the level of scrutiny people face as they try to navigate the citizenship and naturalization process. The new policies include increased scrutiny of anything officials deem “anti-American.”

Muhammed Chaudhry served in the military as a mental health specialist. His wife said after the Sept. 11 attacks, he was approached to work in intelligence for the military, and he refused. She said Chaudhry was told he would not be getting his citizenship anytime soon as a result.

“Intelligence work was to throw somebody under the bus, give them a name, and he said, ‘No.’ He said he didn't want the money, he didn't want the job. He was not going to ruin someone's life like that, an innocent person,” she said. “That violated his moral code, and he wouldn't do it.”


Chaudhry continued to serve in the military until he was medically retired in 2005.

The Chaundrys and their family and friends suspect he has been put on a USCIS government list called the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program or CARRP.

The list reportedly targets people from Muslim-majority countries, people who speak other languages, and have advanced degrees, all based on frequently vague associations with people on a separate U.S. terrorism watchlist.

People who are targeted by CARRP face a delayed naturalization process under what’s called "extreme vetting,” sometimes becoming undocumented and eligible for deportation.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled earlier this year that the federal government’s use of the program was “arbitrary and capricious,” and violated federal laws.

In its announcement this week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service enacted new policies to increase scrutiny of people with legal status who support what officials consider anti-Semitic views, or who are supportive of terrorist organizations.

In her campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, Melissa Chaudhry was critical of what she considers the ethnic cleansing and genocide happening in the Gaza Strip, and what she characterized as Smith’s lack of action. Muhammed Chaudhry has also been vocal about his opposition to Israel's actions in Gaza as a member of a Washington Chapter of Veterans for Peace.

In their announcement this week, USCIS officials said they are also taking a closer look at instances of applications the federal government considers fraudulent, or misrepresented.

RELATED: Rep. Jayapal talks rescissions, protecting U.S. citizens from ICE, and the Epstein files


According to The Olympian, in 2013 ICE officials wanted Muhammed Chaudhry removed for misrepresenting two incidents to officials. In one incident, he was convicted in Australia of using an Australian’s passport to open a bank account and get medical benefits. An Australian man had given him that passport to keep until the Australian man could pay Muhammed back for an unpaid taxi fare.

The other incident alleges that Chaudhry misrepresented his citizenship when he applied to become a reserve officer for the Yakima Police Department.

Chaudhry told The Olympian in 2013 he doesn’t remember misrepresenting his citizenship to Yakima Police. He also said he wasn’t clear about the incident in Australia, to which he pleaded guilty. Other than these two instances, his wife said he has a clean record.

Despite attempts to remove him from the country, ICE records show Chaudhry was allowed to continue moving forward in his immigration case in 2018.
===

===

Jill Lepore - Wikipedia

Jill Lepore - Wikipedia


Jill Lepore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jill Lepore
Lepore at National Book Festival 2025
BornAugust 27, 1966 (age 59)
Children3
AwardsBancroft Prize (1999)
Pulitzer Prize (2026)
Academic background
EducationTufts University (BA)
University of Michigan (MA)
Yale University (PhD)
Academic work
InstitutionsHarvard University
Boston University
University of California, San Diego
Websitejilllepore.com

Jill Lepore (born 1966) is an American historian and journalist. She is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University[1] and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she has contributed since 2005. She writes about American history, law, literature, and politics.

Her essays and reviews have also appeared in The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Journal of American History, Foreign Affairs, the Yale Law Journal, The American Scholar, and the American Quarterly.

Three of her books derive from her New Yorker essays: The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death (2012), a finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; The Story of America: Essays on Origins (2012), shortlisted for the PEN Literary Award for the Art of the Essay; and The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle for American History (2010). Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman (2014) won the 2015 American History Book Prize.[2]

In 2026, her book We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History.[3]

Early life and education

Lepore was born on August 27, 1966, and grew up in West Boylston, a small town outside Worcester, Massachusetts.[4] Her father was a junior high school principal and her mother was an art teacher.[5] Her paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants from Abruzzo and Naples.[6] Lepore had no early desire to become a historian but claims to have wanted to be a writer from the age of six. She participated in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at Tufts University,[7] where she began as a math major. Eventually she left ROTC and changed her major to English.[8] She earned her B.A. in English after three years in 1987.[7][9]

After graduating from Tufts, Lepore had a temporary job working as a secretary at the Harvard Business School[10] before returning to school. She received an M.A. in American culture from the University of Michigan in 1990 and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University in 1995, where she specialized in the history of early America.[11]

Career

Lepore taught at the University of California, San Diego from 1995 to 1996 and at Boston University beginning in 1996; she started at Harvard in 2003.[12][13] Her first book, The Name of War, was published in 1998 and was awarded the Bancroft Prize.[14] In addition to her books and articles on history, in 2008 Lepore published a historical novel, Blindspot, co-written with Jane Kamensky, then a history professor at Brandeis University and later Professor of History and Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Previously, Lepore and Kamensky had co-founded an online history journal called Common-place.[8] Lepore is now a history professor at Harvard University, where she holds an endowed chair and teaches American political history. She focuses on missing evidence in historical records and articles.[15]

Lepore gathers historical evidence that allows scholars to study and analyze political processes and behaviors. Her articles are often both historical and political. She has said, "History is the art of making an argument about the past by telling a story accountable to evidence."[16]

Lepore has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005.[17] In the June 23, 2014, issue she criticized the concept of creative destruction, associated with Austrian-born political economist Joseph Schumpeter.[18] The response of one of those whose work she discusses, fellow Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, was that her article was "a criminal act of dishonesty—at Harvard, of all places".[19]

From 2011 to 2013, Lepore was a visiting scholar of Phi Beta Kappa society. She has delivered the Theodore H. White Lecture on the Press and Politics at Harvard Kennedy School (2015), the John L. Hatfield Lecture at Lafayette College (2015), the Lewis Walpole Library Lecture at Yale (2013), the Harry F. Camp Memorial Lecture at Stanford (2013), the University of Kansas Humanities Lecture (2013), the Joanna Jackson Goldman Memorial Lectures at the New York Public Library (2012), the Kephardt Lecture at Villanova (2011), the Stafford-Little Lecture at Princeton (2010), and the Walker Horizon Lecture at DePauw (2009). She is the president of the Society of American Historians and an Emeritus Commissioner of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. She has been a consultant and contributor to documentary and public history projects. Her three-part story "The Search for Big Brown" was broadcast on The New Yorker Radio Hour in 2015.

In February 2022, Lepore was one of 38 Harvard faculty to sign a letter to The Harvard Crimson defending Professor John Comaroff, who had been found to have violated the university's sexual and professional conduct policies. The letter defended Comaroff as "an excellent colleague, advisor and committed university citizen" and expressed dismay over his being sanctioned by the university.[20] After students filed a lawsuit with detailed allegations of Comaroff's actions and the university's failure to respond, Lepore was one of several signatories to say that she wished to retract her signature.[21]

Selected awards and honors

Publications

See also

References

  1.  http://www.jilllepore.com. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2.  Schuessler, Jennifer (February 17, 2015). "A Book Prize for Wonder Woman". ArtsBeat. The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  3.  Alter, Alexandra; Khatib, Joumana; Cowles, Greg (May 4, 2026). "Pulitzer Prizes 2026: A Guide to the Winning Books and Finalists". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  4.  Schuessler, Jennifer (September 16, 2018). "Jill Lepore on Writing the Story of America (in 1,000 Pages or Less)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  5.  Silber, Maia (March 6, 2014). "Jill Lepore: A Historian's History". www.thecrimson.com. Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  6.  "The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother".
  7.  Mari, Francesca (Spring 2013). "The Microhistorian". Dissent Magazine. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  8.  "The Public Historian – A Conversation with Jill Lepore". Humanities Magazine. September–October 2009.
  9.  "Jill Lepore Speaks on February 28". Endicott College. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  10.  "Jill Lepore". Tufts Now. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  11.  "Jill Lepore", Faculty, Harvard University, accessed October 12, 2010.
  12.  "Jill Lepore". Harvard Open Scholar. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  13.  Lepore, Jill (1999). The Name of War. Vintage. pp. Preface. ISBN 978-0-375-70262-4.
  14.  "The Bancroft Prizes: Previous Awards | Columbia University Libraries". library.columbia.edu. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  15.  "Biography". Harvard University. Harvard University. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  16.  Lepore, Jill (2014). Story of America : essays on origins. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-691-15959-1.
  17.  "The New Yorker - Contributors". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  18.  "The Disruption Machine". The New Yorker. June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  19.  "Clayton Christensen Responds to New Yorker Takedown of 'Disruptive Innovation'". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  20.  "38 Harvard Faculty Sign Open Letter Questioning Results of Misconduct Investigations into Prof. John Comaroff". Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  21.  "3 graduate students file sexual harassment suit against prominent Harvard anthropology professor". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  22.  "MemberListL | American Antiquarian Society".
  23.  Schuessler, Jennifer (April 23, 2014). "A new class of American Fellows". Arts Beat Blog. The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  24.  "Lukas Prizes: Past Winners and Jurors – Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism". www.journalism.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  25.  "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  26.  "Jill Lepore ist Hannah-Arendt-Preisträgerin für politisches Denken 2021 - Pressestelle des Senats".
  27.  Associated Press and agencies (May 4, 2026). "Feminism play Liberation and first world war novel Angel Down among Pulitzer winners". The Guardian. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  28.  Garner, Dwight (October 23, 2014). "Books - Her Past Unchained 'The Secret History of Wonder Woman,' by Jill Lepore". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  29.  Waxman, Olivia B. (August 24, 2023). "Why Historian Jill Lepore Hated Barbie". Time. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  30.  "Journalist Jill Lepore compiles new book of essays, "The Deadline"". WYPR. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  31.  Crosley, Sloane (August 26, 2023). "Jill Lepore Revisits American Myths With an Eye to the Present". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  32.  "Jill Lepore Thinks the U.S. Constitution Might Break America". September 14, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  33.  "A Popular Historian's Skewed Vision of the Law". National Review. January 22, 2026. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
  34.  "Amend It, Don't End It". Claremont Review of Books. Retrieved May 5, 2026.
====
Jill Lepore
Jill Lepore, a staff writer, has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005. Her books include “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution,” which won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for history and was long-listed for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; “The Name of War,” which won a Bancroft Prize; “New York Burning,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for history; “Book of Ages,” a finalist for the National Book Award; “The Secret History of Wonder Woman”; the international best-seller “These Truths: A History of the United States”; and “The Deadline,” which received a PEN America award for the art of the essay. She is the host of the podcast “The Last Archive” and of the BBC Radio 4 program “X-Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story.”


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This year marks the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the nation’s founding. The two hundredth wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.
March 2, 2026
Living in Tracy Chapman’s House
Personal History
Living in Tracy Chapman’s House
Fresh out of college, we were a bunch of misfits, in a chaotic, run-down communal home, desperately trying to figure out who we were meant to be.
February 2, 2026
Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE
Essay
Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE
Long before the federal onslaught, a Twin Cities museum showed what it meant to find a home in America.
January 26, 2026
When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills
A Critic at Large
When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills
Early in his life, Sanders left the streets of Brooklyn for the woodlands of Vermont. What did the man bring to the state—and what did the state bring to the man?
January 19, 2026
Advertisement

How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?
The Daily
How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?
From the daily newsletter: the conflicting approaches to honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial.
November 13, 2025
What Was the American Revolution For?
American Chronicles
What Was the American Revolution For?
Amid plans to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, many are asking whether or not the people really do rule, and whether the law is still king.
November 10, 2025
Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up
Reflections
Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up
His posts and rants are omnipresent, ugly, and unhinged. Don’t look to history to make it make sense.
October 27, 2025
The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past
Comment
The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past
Ahead of next year’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the White House has issued a directive to the Smithsonian.
August 25, 2025
Advertisement

“In case of emergency, break open a book.”
The Daily
“In case of emergency, break open a book.”
From the daily newsletter: looking for sense and solace in Trump 2.0. Plus: the bureaucratic nightmare of being trans right now; and “The Great Gatsby” turns one hundred.
April 29, 2025
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump
American Chronicles
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump
Each morning, before the day’s decree, I turned to a slim book, hoping for sense, or solace.
April 28, 2025
How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening
American Chronicles
How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening
Ruth Stout didn’t plow, dig, water, or weed—and now her “no-work” method is everywhere. But her secrets went beyond the garden plot.
March 17, 2025
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
American Chronicles
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
The magazine has three golden rules: never write about writers, editors, or the magazine. On the occasion of our hundredth anniversary, we’re breaking them all.
February 10, 2025
Advertisement

What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus
The Lede
What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus
I took the new VW ID. Buzz for a drive down memory lane. Things got bumpy.
December 1, 2024
Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension
Dispatches
Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension
The Harris campaign felt the need to remind women voters that they can vote for whomever they want. Women understood this. The campaign failed to.
November 10, 2024
The Artificial State
A Critic at Large
The Artificial State
As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back?
November 4, 2024
Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
Onward and Upward with Technology
Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
An artificial voice has long been a dream of tinkerers and technologists. Now that A.I. can talk, though, we may forget who we’re talking to.
September 30, 2024
Advertisement

The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
A Critic at Large
The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
“Manhunt,” a new television miniseries, depicts the pursuit of Lincoln’s killer. But the public appetite for tales about the chase began even as it was happening.
March 11, 2024
Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?
Comment
Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?
After their ruling on a Fourteenth Amendment case, which keeps Donald Trump on the ballot, will the Justices be willing to revisit Dobbs, or Second Amendment cases?
March 10, 2024
The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court
Books
The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court
A hundred years ago, Chief Justice William Howard Taft made the Court more efficient and more powerful. His interventions marked a turning point whose effects are still being felt.
January 22, 2024
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President
American Chronicles
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President
After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?
December 4, 2023
Advertisement

The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather
Daily Comment
The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather
What happened to antisemitic rants before social media.
September 19, 2023
How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain
Books
How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain
Walter Isaacson’s new biography depicts a man who wields more power than almost any other person on the planet but seems estranged from humanity itself.
September 11, 2023
Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard
The Weekend Essay
Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard
For seven years, I helped kids stage a series of silly, madcap musicals. I didn’t realize that it couldn’t last.
August 26, 2023
Elon Musk’s X Factor
Cultural Comment
Elon Musk’s X Factor
The surprising personal and cultural reasons for his “X” affection and rebranding of Twitter.
July 26, 2023
Advertisement

The Bear in Your Back Yard
Books
The Bear in Your Back Yard
Throughout North America, they’re showing up in unexpected places. Can we coexist?
July 17, 2023
The View from Inside Beatlemania
The Weekend Essay
The View from Inside Beatlemania
In 1964, on the band’s first world tour, Paul McCartney took pictures that have only recently been discovered. What do they show us?
June 10, 2023
What We Owe Our Trees
The Control of Nature
What We Owe Our Trees
Forests fed us, housed us, and made our way of life possible. But they can’t save us if we can’t save them.
May 22, 2023
The Data Delusion
American Chronicles
The Data Delusion
We’ve uploaded everything anyone has ever known onto a worldwide network of machines. What if it doesn’t have all the answers?
March 27, 2023
Advertisement

What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues
Onward and Upward in the Garden
What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues
They promise forty-pound beets, rhubarb that tastes like wine, tomatoes that look like stained-glass windows, and world salvation. It doesn’t hurt to dream.
March 13, 2023
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
A Critic at Large
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the Capitol attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.
January 9, 2023
Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?
Life and Letters
Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?
In his “Slough House” thrillers, the screwups save the day—and there’s a very fine line between comedy and catastrophe.
November 28, 2022
The Return of the Wild Turkey
Comment
The Return of the Wild Turkey
In New England, the birds were once hunted nearly to extinction; now they’re swarming the streets like they own the place. Sometimes turnabout is fowl play.
November 20, 2022
Advertisement

The Case Against the Twitter Apology
American Chronicles
The Case Against the Twitter Apology
Our twenty-first-century culture of performed remorse has become a sorry spectacle.
November 7, 2022
The United States’ Unamendable Constitution
Annals of Inquiry
The United States’ Unamendable Constitution
How our inability to change America’s most important document is deforming our politics and government.
October 26, 2022
Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
Comment
Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
Americans have long understood the species’ extinction as a warning. But is trying to “de-extinct” it really a good idea?
August 7, 2022
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Dept. of Transportation
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Once, it sparked dreams of community and counterculture. What’s gained—and lost—when flower power is electrified?
July 18, 2022
Advertisement

The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother
Dept. of Heirlooms
The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother
How a matriarch’s image was lost and found.
July 12, 2022
The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory
Daily Comment
The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory 
The Court’s originalist justification for striking down a New York gun law is more than capricious—it relies on a fundamentally anti-democratic historical record that deliberately excludes women and people of color.
June 24, 2022
Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?
Books
Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?
From the velocipede to the ten-speed, biking innovations brought riders freedom. But in a world built for cars, life behind handlebars is both charmed and dangerous.
May 23, 2022
After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion
Comment
After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion
If the Democratic response to Justice Alito’s draft opinion was largely rhetorical, was it also a missed opportunity?
May 15, 2022
Advertisement

Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion
Daily Comment
Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion
There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito.
May 4, 2022
Why the School Wars Still Rage
American Chronicles
Why the School Wars Still Rage
From evolution to anti-racism, parents and progressives have clashed for a century over who gets to tell our origin stories.
March 14, 2022
The Lessons of “The Lorax”
Comment
The Lessons of “The Lorax”
The battle over what we read isn’t about to end anytime soon.
November 28, 2021
How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives
Books
How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives
From work schedules to TV seasons to baseball games, the seven-day cycle has long ordered American society. Will we ever get rid of it?
November 15, 2021
Advertisement

When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?
American Chronicles
When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?
Efforts to rescue African American burial grounds and remains have exposed deep conflicts over inheritance and representation.
September 27, 2021
Facebook’s Broken Vows
A Critic at Large
Facebook’s Broken Vows
How the company’s pledge to bring the world together wound up pulling us apart.
July 26, 2021
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
American Chronicles
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful—but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.
May 17, 2021
How Do Plague Stories End?
Page-Turner
How Do Plague Stories End?
In the literature of contagion, when society is finally free of disease, it’s up to humanity to decide how to begin again.
March 24, 2021
Advertisement

When Constitutions Took Over the World
A Critic at Large
When Constitutions Took Over the World
Starting in the eighteenth century, citizens were promised their rights in print. Was this new age spurred by the ideals of the Enlightenment or by the imperatives of global warfare?
March 22, 2021
The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way
Books
The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way
Amid a global gold rush for digital weapons, the infrastructure of our daily lives has never been more vulnerable.
February 1, 2021
What’s Wrong with the Way We Work
A Critic at Large
What’s Wrong with the Way We Work
Americans are told to give their all—time, labor, and passion—to their jobs. But do their jobs give enough back?
January 11, 2021
What Should We Call the Sixth of January?
Daily Comment
What Should We Call the Sixth of January?
What began as a protest, rally, and march ended as something altogether different—a day of anarchy that challenges the terminology of history.
January 8, 2021
More Stories
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Jill Lepore


Jill Lepore, a staff writer, has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005. Her books include “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution,” which won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for history and was long-listed for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; “The Name of War,” which won a Bancroft Prize; “New York Burning,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for history; “Book of Ages,” a finalist for the National Book Award; “The Secret History of Wonder Woman”; the international best-seller “These Truths: A History of the United States”; and “The Deadline,” which received a PEN America award for the art of the essay. She is the host of the podcast “The Last Archive” and of the BBC Radio 4 program “X-Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story.”Read less



What the Pope Said About A.I.
The Lede

What the Pope Said About A.I.

Leo XIV’s new encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” presents a remarkable case for placing moral concerns, and not profit, or competitive advantage, or efficiency, at the center of any discussion of artificial intelligence.
The Prehistory of A.I. Slop
A Critic at Large

The Prehistory of A.I. Slop

Before ChatGPT, there was the Plot Robot, Auto-Beatnik, and a century’s worth of schemes for automating authorship.
Writing the Trump Years Into History
The Daily

Writing the Trump Years Into History

From the daily newsletter: How do you bring an American-history textbook up to date when the country’s past has become a political battleground?
Writing the Trump Years Into History
American Chronicles

Writing the Trump Years Into History

How do you bring an American-history textbook up to date when the country’s past has become a political battleground?
Advertisement
What “The Sheep Detectives” Doesn’t Understand About Sheep
The Current Cinema

What “The Sheep Detectives” Doesn’t Understand About Sheep

The new film, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson, is based on a near-perfect “sheep crime novel”—but the adaptation shows disappointingly little interest in the animal mind.
Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?
American Chronicles

Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?

Amid contention, criticism, and compromise, a divided nation had to present a unified front. It came at a cost.
Does A.I. Need a Constitution?
Annals of Technology

Does A.I. Need a Constitution?

A new set of precepts is meant to make the chatbot Claude wise, decent, and safe. It also marks a striking transfer of public responsibility from constitutional government to private tech firms.
Do U.S. Presidents Have the Power to Declare War?
The Lede

Do U.S. Presidents Have the Power to Declare War?

On paper, declaring war is reserved for Congress. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution turned a constitutional requirement into a legislative habit of looking away.
Advertisement
Scandal, Protest, Goofiness, and Grandeur at the U.S. Bicentennial
American Chronicles

Scandal, Protest, Goofiness, and Grandeur at the U.S. Bicentennial

This year marks the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the nation’s founding. The two hundredth wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.
Living in Tracy Chapman’s House
Personal History

Living in Tracy Chapman’s House

Fresh out of college, we were a bunch of misfits, in a chaotic, run-down communal home, desperately trying to figure out who we were meant to be.
Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE
Essay

Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE

Long before the federal onslaught, a Twin Cities museum showed what it meant to find a home in America.
When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills
A Critic at Large

When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills

Early in his life, Sanders left the streets of Brooklyn for the woodlands of Vermont. What did the man bring to the state—and what did the state bring to the man?
Advertisement
How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?
The Daily

How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?

From the daily newsletter: the conflicting approaches to honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial.
What Was the American Revolution For?
American Chronicles

What Was the American Revolution For?

Amid plans to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, many are asking whether or not the people really do rule, and whether the law is still king.
Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up
Reflections

Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up

His posts and rants are omnipresent, ugly, and unhinged. Don’t look to history to make it make sense.
The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past
Comment

The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past

Ahead of next year’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the White House has issued a directive to the Smithsonian.
Advertisement
“In case of emergency, break open a book.”
The Daily

“In case of emergency, break open a book.”

From the daily newsletter: looking for sense and solace in Trump 2.0. Plus: the bureaucratic nightmare of being trans right now; and “The Great Gatsby” turns one hundred.
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump
American Chronicles

A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump

Each morning, before the day’s decree, I turned to a slim book, hoping for sense, or solace.
How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening
American Chronicles

How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening

Ruth Stout didn’t plow, dig, water, or weed—and now her “no-work” method is everywhere. But her secrets went beyond the garden plot.
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
American Chronicles

The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker

The magazine has three golden rules: never write about writers, editors, or the magazine. On the occasion of our hundredth anniversary, we’re breaking them all.
Advertisement
What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus
The Lede

What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus

I took the new VW ID. Buzz for a drive down memory lane. Things got bumpy.
Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension
Dispatches

Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension

The Harris campaign felt the need to remind women voters that they can vote for whomever they want. Women understood this. The campaign failed to.
The Artificial State
A Critic at Large

The Artificial State

As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back?
Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
Onward and Upward with Technology

Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?

An artificial voice has long been a dream of tinkerers and technologists. Now that A.I. can talk, though, we may forget who we’re talking to.
Advertisement
The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
A Critic at Large

The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On

“Manhunt,” a new television miniseries, depicts the pursuit of Lincoln’s killer. But the public appetite for tales about the chase began even as it was happening.
Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?
Comment

Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?

After their ruling on a Fourteenth Amendment case, which keeps Donald Trump on the ballot, will the Justices be willing to revisit Dobbs, or Second Amendment cases?
The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court
Books

The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court

A hundred years ago, Chief Justice William Howard Taft made the Court more efficient and more powerful. His interventions marked a turning point whose effects are still being felt.
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President
American Chronicles

What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President

After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?
Advertisement
The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather
Daily Comment

The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather

What happened to antisemitic rants before social media.
How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain
Books

How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain

Walter Isaacson’s new biography depicts a man who wields more power than almost any other person on the planet but seems estranged from humanity itself.
Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard
The Weekend Essay

Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard

For seven years, I helped kids stage a series of silly, madcap musicals. I didn’t realize that it couldn’t last.
Elon Musk’s X Factor
Cultural Comment

Elon Musk’s X Factor

The surprising personal and cultural reasons for his “X” affection and rebranding of Twitter.
Advertisement
The Bear in Your Back Yard
Books

The Bear in Your Back Yard

Throughout North America, they’re showing up in unexpected places. Can we coexist?
The View from Inside Beatlemania
The Weekend Essay

The View from Inside Beatlemania

In 1964, on the band’s first world tour, Paul McCartney took pictures that have only recently been discovered. What do they show us?
What We Owe Our Trees
The Control of Nature

What We Owe Our Trees

Forests fed us, housed us, and made our way of life possible. But they can’t save us if we can’t save them.
The Data Delusion
American Chronicles

The Data Delusion

We’ve uploaded everything anyone has ever known onto a worldwide network of machines. What if it doesn’t have all the answers?
Advertisement
What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues
Onward and Upward in the Garden

What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues

They promise forty-pound beets, rhubarb that tastes like wine, tomatoes that look like stained-glass windows, and world salvation. It doesn’t hurt to dream.
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
A Critic at Large

What the January 6th Report Is Missing

The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the Capitol attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.
Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?
Life and Letters

Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?

In his “Slough House” thrillers, the screwups save the day—and there’s a very fine line between comedy and catastrophe.
The Return of the Wild Turkey
Comment

The Return of the Wild Turkey

In New England, the birds were once hunted nearly to extinction; now they’re swarming the streets like they own the place. Sometimes turnabout is fowl play.
Advertisement
The Case Against the Twitter Apology
American Chronicles

The Case Against the Twitter Apology

Our twenty-first-century culture of performed remorse has become a sorry spectacle.
The United States’ Unamendable Constitution
Annals of Inquiry

The United States’ Unamendable Constitution

How our inability to change America’s most important document is deforming our politics and government.
Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
Comment

Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth

Americans have long understood the species’ extinction as a warning. But is trying to “de-extinct” it really a good idea?
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Dept. of Transportation

The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover

Once, it sparked dreams of community and counterculture. What’s gained—and lost—when flower power is electrified?
Advertisement
The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother
Dept. of Heirlooms

The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother

How a matriarch’s image was lost and found.
The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory
Daily Comment

The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory 

The Court’s originalist justification for striking down a New York gun law is more than capricious—it relies on a fundamentally anti-democratic historical record that deliberately excludes women and people of color.
Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?
Books

Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?

From the velocipede to the ten-speed, biking innovations brought riders freedom. But in a world built for cars, life behind handlebars is both charmed and dangerous.
After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion
Comment

After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion

If the Democratic response to Justice Alito’s draft opinion was largely rhetorical, was it also a missed opportunity?
Advertisement
Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion
Daily Comment

Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion

There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito.
Why the School Wars Still Rage
American Chronicles

Why the School Wars Still Rage

From evolution to anti-racism, parents and progressives have clashed for a century over who gets to tell our origin stories.
The Lessons of “The Lorax”
Comment

The Lessons of “The Lorax”

The battle over what we read isn’t about to end anytime soon.
How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives
Books

How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives

From work schedules to TV seasons to baseball games, the seven-day cycle has long ordered American society. Will we ever get rid of it?
Advertisement
When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?
American Chronicles

When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?

Efforts to rescue African American burial grounds and remains have exposed deep conflicts over inheritance and representation.
Facebook’s Broken Vows
A Critic at Large

Facebook’s Broken Vows

How the company’s pledge to bring the world together wound up pulling us apart.
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
American Chronicles

Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?

As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful—but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.
How Do Plague Stories End?
Page-Turner

How Do Plague Stories End?

In the literature of contagion, when society is finally free of disease, it’s up to humanity to decide how to begin again.
Advertisement
When Constitutions Took Over the World
A Critic at Large

When Constitutions Took Over the World

Starting in the eighteenth century, citizens were promised their rights in print. Was this new age spurred by the ideals of the Enlightenment or by the imperatives of global warfare?
The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way
Books

The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way

Amid a global gold rush for digital weapons, the infrastructure of our daily lives has never been more vulnerable.
What’s Wrong with the Way We Work
A Critic at Large

What’s Wrong with the Way We Work

Americans are told to give their all—time, labor, and passion—to their jobs. But do their jobs give enough back?
What Should We Call the Sixth of January?
Daily Comment

What Should We Call the Sixth of January?

What began as a protest, rally, and march ended as something altogether different—a day of anarchy that challenges the terminology of history.
====