An excellent report on Trump’s raiding of the National Park Service's funds to pay for his gaudy, gold-leaf D.C. makeover.

Much of the press believed the 2022-25 spike in egg prices was mere supply and demand. Now that the industry has settled with DOJ and state AGs, the Washington Monthly's suspicions proved warranted.

“The Fight in the Democratic Party Is Not Left vs. Center, But Left vs. Left” My @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social latest washingtonmonthly.com/2026/07/02/d...

Everyone's reading Trump v. Slaughter as a massive expansion of presidential power. But, @petermshane.bsky.social argues, there's a second power grab hidden inside it—one benefitting the court. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/30/t...

The Heritage Foundation's sequel to Project 2025 blames feminism and welfare for falling birthrates—and proposes rolling back women's freedom to fix it.

Since 1868, "subject to the jurisdiction" has meant what it seems to mean: babies born here are citizens. The far right spent 30 years inventing a new "original" meaning. This week, even John Roberts wasn't buying it.

New from me on yesterday’s SCOTUS decision on mail-in ballots: washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/30/m...

Mail-in ballots survived at the Supreme Court. The voter fraud myth did, too, @joshuaadouglas.bsky.social writes.

The Heritage Foundation has a troubling pro-natalist sequel to Project 2025 that seeks to elevate the "natural family." (yes, one woman, one man, one color...) Varina Winder of the Arch Collaborative explains @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/washingt...

By killing the nuclear deal and launching a war, Trump gave Tehran something more useful than a nuclear bomb: leverage over the global economy. Jonathan Alter talks to two Iran experts about how the U.S. plays checkers while Iran plays chess.

The Heritage Foundation has scary plans for a "pro-natalist" agenda that could have seriously damage women's freedom and health. I spoke with Varina Winder at the Arch Collaborative for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social plus all the latest ICYMI washingtonmonthly.substack.com/p/boot-camps...

By killing the nuclear deal and launching a war, Trump gave Tehran something more useful than a nuclear bomb: leverage over the global economy. Jonathan Alter talks to two Iran experts about how the U.S. plays checkers while Iran plays chess.

“Mamdani’s Movement Interests May Collide with His Mayoral Interests” my latest for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/26/m...

An exclusive w/ @glastris.bsky.social ( @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social ) reveals what’s happening at RPUs, where access & opportunity meet for most students. RPUs deliver affordability, flexibility, & belonging, but students are still facing real challenges. ⬇️ washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/26/r...

For the 150th anniversary of the Little Bighorn Battle. "When I first visited the site, I experienced something so mysterious that I don’t think I’ll ever recover. The battlefield should be a required visit for all of us." @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social #booksky washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/25/t...

Congress could erase the Social Security shortfall instantly—and raise everyone's benefits by $200 a month—just by lifting the cap on taxed income. So why won't it?

A job isn't enough if it leads nowhere. On the hidden crisis of stranded American talent.

Late 20th-century battles over artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano set the stage for the transgressive Age of Trump.

“Any Iran Deal Will Fail Without a Two-State Solution” My latest for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/23/a...

"The broader lesson to draw from the failures of Operation Epic Fury and the Memorandum of Understanding is that there are no shortcuts to Middle East peace that bypass a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians" washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/23/a...

He signed the Declaration and the Constitution. He penned "We the People." He promoted judicial review before Marbury. So why has almost no one heard of James Wilson? washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/23/t...

No deal with Iran will hold without a two-state solution. @billscher.bsky.social on the lesson Trump and Netanyahu refuse to learn.

Starmer out as prime minister is no fix in a country where voters keep denying victors electoral mandates.

Nonfiction matters because it offers what chatbots can't: narrative, argument, and art. My latest @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social, with a reading list of nonfiction picks reviewed by our Kukula Award finalists and winners. open.substack.com/pub/washingt...

Trump's corruption of Biden’s broadband program ​screwed rural Americans but helped Musk become a trillionaire.

Yesterday I wrote about how Trump is allowing the Section 702 counterterror program to expire when his DHS Sec says the terrorist threat level is "highest it's ever been" Now his Acting DNI boss is planning to fire 300 National Counterterrorism Center employees www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

Forget a single chaotic day like Jan. 6. The next coup, Jonathan Alter argues, will be quiet enough that most people won't notice until it's too late. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/19/s...

Trump's own Homeland Security Secretary says the terror threat is "the highest it's ever been." Trump's response: hold the government's main counterterrorism surveillance tool hostage to a voter ID bill.

“As Threat Level Reaches ‘Highest It’s Ever Been,’ Trump Sidelines Key Counterterror Program” My latest for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/19/t...

Rule by the rich may look inevitable, but history shows it’s not. From ancient Greece to New Deal America to today’s Hungary, democracies have found ways to separate private fortunes from public power.

Trump hates vote-by-mail. Why some Democrats hate it too?

For two decades, Iranian and Venezuelan exiles were Washington's most convincing salespeople for pressure campaigns against their homelands. Now they've been cast aside.

Less local news doesn't just mean more corruption. New research finds it also means more loneliness, writes @stevenwaldman.bsky.social.

Trump's deal-making reputation is in tatters after the Iran War. But the biggest loser, @billscher.bsky.social argues, is Netanyahu—whose every gamble backfired, strengthening Iran and weakening Israel's American alliance.

“The Iran War’s Biggest Loser? Definitely Netanyahu” My @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social latest washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/16/i...

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing: Rhoda Feng (@newrepublic.com) and Dan Piepenbring (@harpers.bsky.social).

A proposed OMB rule would require every grant to "advance the President's policy priorities." James D. Zirin explains why researchers are at DEFCON-1.

“Remember When We Used to Take World War III Seriously?” My @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social latest on the plotless farce of the Iran war washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/12/r...

Don't read Nicholas Lemann's "Returning" as a Jewish book, @mattizcoop.bsky.social writes, but as an American one: how, in a free country, we choose to wear our identities, and how the majority culture pushes back. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/11/t...

On the 250th anniversary of American independence, the Roberts Court has found a way to commemorate it: by gutting the Voting Rights Act. @jrakove.bsky.social, a historian of the founding era, on what's really being nullified.

He taught a course Harvard students called "Guilt 101." They adored him anyway. A former student remembers Robert Coles, the child psychiatrist who challenged liberalism from within.

AI ads are cheap, viral, and easy to make, writes @billscher.bsky.social. They also just cost a Republican TV personality the LA mayor's race.

“The Defeat of Spencer Pratt Is a Defeat of AI Slop” My latest for @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/09/s...

Announcing the finalists for the 2026 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing—the only journalism prize dedicated to serious, public-affairs book criticism.

After the Trump administration threatened medical journals, research on abortion, LGBTQ health, and racial health disparities dropped by roughly a quarter. Trump's chilling effect on science, by the numbers.

In 1875, a jury took 10 minutes to declare Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's widow, insane. A new book from @loisromano.bsky.social revisits a stunning American injustice.

In 1998, Democrats decided Bill Clinton was too indispensable to lose. Today, some progressives say the same about Graham Platner. The argument was wrong then—and it's wrong now.

“Democrats Need to Decide Whether Character Matters” My @washingtonmonthly.bsky.social latest, on the parallels between Graham Platner, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/05/d...

A threat to pull customs officers from sanctuary cities could snarl World Cup travel. Why would they do it? Maybe because MAGA actually believes undocumented immigrants are stealing elections, writes @davidoatkins.bsky.social. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/04/m...

He spent the '80s and '90s covering 60 Minutes for Newsweek and sat with founder Don Hewitt as he screened pieces. Now, @jonathanalter.bsky.social fears the precious institution is dead.