NewAmerica

Extremism across the continent of Africa has been widely researched and reported; less covered are the stories of those who have been survivors—and resisters—of it. A Moonless, Starless Sky, the debut book by New America National Fellow, Alexis Okeowo, is a vivid account of Africans who are courageously countering their continent's wave of fundamentalism. Okeowo weaves together four narratives tha...

The only United States bank indicted for mortgage fraud related to the 2008 financial crisis is the one you’ve never heard of. Charged with securities fraud, mortgage fraud, and conspiracy, Chinatown’s Abacus Federal Savings Bank — the country's 2,531st largest bank and a cornerstone of the Chinese immigrant community — became the only bank in the U.S. to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2...

In Mekhennet's new memoir, I Was Told To Come Alone, she journeys behind the lines of jihad. she documents the failed promise of the Arab Spring, and then returns to Europe, where she uncovers the identity of notorious ISIS executioner.

In the final years of his life, James Baldwin began writing Remember This House, a personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his closest friends—Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Now, more than 30 years later, a new documentary picks up those letters and unfinished manuscripts to explore how race became the defining struggle of American society. I Am Not Your...

When the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, 35-year-old radio DJ Obaidah Zytoon joined the revolution armed with two things: a video camera and hope. The portrait that resulted—encapsulating both the euphoria of protest and the devastating violence—is the subject of the 2016 Venice Days Award-winning documentary, The War Show. Against the brutal backdrop of chaos and civil war, The War Show unfold...

As the debate about which bathroom transgender people should use continues, a more complex question is emerging about how early the medical transition begins for trans kids. Families and doctors are rewriting the rules as they decide when and how to start medical intervention before transgender youth hit puberty. In a special VICE on HBO episode, VICE correspondent Gianna Toboni explores this emot...

When unarmed teenager Michael Brown, Jr. was killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marked a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial bias, and renewed anger brought together residents and activists from across the nation to confront this flashpoint in a long history of injustice. Their stories are the subject of Whose Streets?, a ne...

Baltimore is a city fighting to save its youth. In the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, the inaugural class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women began their senior year. Established in 2009, the charter school had a simple mandate: send every girl to college, regardless of any barriers their home lives and communities might present. Step, the 2017 Sundance Special Jury Award winner...

Libby and Kevin return from a three-month hiatus to discuss DeVos, Trump, gainful employment, adjunct professorship, and Game of Thrones.

When the online blog Gawker posted an excerpt of a secretly filmed sex tape of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, it ignited a high stakes legal battle that pitted privacy rights against the First Amendment. The staggering verdict in Bollea v. Gawker Media, a decision that bankrupted Gawker and its founder, is the subject of a new Netflix original documentary by Brian Knappenberger, Nobody Speak: T...

The traditional narrative of the American Dream — hard work, steady saving, and a little bit of luck will lead to security today and mobility tomorrow — has all but become an American Myth. Today, insecurity is so pronounced that 92 percent of Americans, when asked to choose between being a little richer or more financially stable, chose stability. But amidst 30 years of wage stagnation and radica...

Amidst daily revelations about Russia's global web of influence, is there a way to chart a path ahead? Not since the end of the Cold War has Russia received as much front page media attention as it gets today. Russia has been blamed for several recent global upsets — Trump's election, Le Pen's surge, and Assad's ability to remain in power. At the same time Russian oligarchs have structured a netwo...

Police play an indispensable role in our society. But the responsibility for keeping them accountable may lay with us, the people. In June 2013, documents leaked by Edward Snowden sparked widespread debate about secret government surveillance of Americans. Just over a year later, the shooting of Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, set off protests and triggered concern about mil...

Yascha Mounk talks to Anne Applebaum about how authoritarians take power, the threat of social media, and the first six months of Trump's presidency.

Yascha Mounk talks to George Packer about social isolation, the sources of political anger, and why none of the dominant narratives of American identity can bind us together.

Yascha Mounk talks to Mark Blyth about the economic drivers of populism, how to create a more equal society, and the failures of the Eurozone.

Yascha Mounk talks to Brian Klaas about how to save democratic norms at home and promote democratic rule abroad.

Yascha Mounk talks to Catherine Rampell about the economic drivers of populist support, the future of economic growth, and why fears about automation may be exaggerated.

Yascha Mounk discusses the degree to which democracy in the United States is under threat, the slow erosion of liberal norms, and the future of American identity with Francis Fukuyama.

Yascha Mounk interviews Evan McMullin, 2016 Presidential Candidate and one of Donald Trump's most vocal conservative critics, about how to oppose the President across party lines; the future of the Republican Party; and the personal costs of political courage.

Kevin, Libby, and special guest Steve Teles dig into if, when, or how it's okay to stop someone from speaking on a college campus. Plus: Is The Americans getting stale?!

Yascha Mounk explains the global costs of the Trump Presidency and talks to Hans Kundnani about the differences between Trump and Brexit, how to preserve the liberal world order, and the dangers of national neoliberalism.

Gonna be a lot of irate citizens when they find out that they’re paying for water they’re not gonna get. — Jack Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes in Chinatown In 1994, a handful of California state officials met in secret with representatives from big agriculture to transform wide swaths of formerly arid land into some of the country's most fertile megafarms. Two decades later, amidst an historic dr...

What happens when a democratically elected leader evolves into an authoritarian ruler? India and Turkey are two of the world's biggest democracies—multi-ethnic nations that rose from their imperial past to be founded on the values of modernity. The have fair elections, open markets, and freedom of religion. But despite their democratic values, each of their charismatic leaders—Narendra Modi in Ind...

Yascha Mounk explains why social media favors political outsiders over insiders and talks to Lee Drutman about the dangerous racial and cultural divide in American politics.