"The bartender with a doctorate will always be good copy. But the degree remains the surest, sturdiest path to prosperity."

Excellent piece by @nateweisberg.bsky.social out in the Monthly today @washingtonmonthly.com

“The U.S. and Europe Should Learn From Us”

A Ukrainian air defense unit showcases what NATO should have done when the Kremlin sent drones into Poland:

washingtonmonthly.com/2025/09/18/r...

The Court on affirmative action: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."

The Court on ICE stops: "Proceed detaining any brown-skinned, Spanish-speaking, low-wage worker in central California."

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina showed the world what it looks like when unequal realities on the ground are not considered in emergency planning. A story I wrote about how Trump’s anti-DEI policies are doing away with the mechanisms of government designed address those realities is out today.

The Washington Monthly's 2025 College Guide – rating schools based on what they do for the country via access, affordability, outcomes, and national service metrics – is out this week! I highly encourage all of us U.S. taxpayers to check it out.

AmeriCorps brought broadband, disaster relief, and young talent to struggling towns. So of course, Trump gutted it.

In November 1944, as Soviet forces pushed into central Europe, Hitler declared Budapest a “fortress city,” meaning that its defenders would fight to the last man. Three months later, the former jewel of central Europe looked like Stalingrad. Around 40,000 German and Hungarian troops had been killed.

William F. Buckley Jr. spent a lifetime trying to make a coherent intellectual case for conservatism, but could never articulate what it was supposed to consist of apart from owning the libs. From @jacobheilbrunn.bsky.social:

washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/01/g...

The idea that the early United States was an unregulated libertarian utopia is a modern myth. In fact, Americans used government both to protect themselves from private corporate power and to create new wealth.

washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/01/r...