The Right likes to think that intellectuals and academics like Allan Bloom and Dinesh D'Souza spurred the explosive growth of movement conservatism in the 1980s and 1990s, when it was actually mostly Rush Limbaugh. Alex Pareene 1980s1990sacademic share on social
For the most part, congressional Republicans represent people who are whiter, older and richer than most Americans, and our creaky old political system gives those Americans disproportionate influence over public policy. Alex Pareene americancongressionalcreaky share on social
Vaccine conspiracies, like so much modern cult conspiracy culture, perpetuates itself and lives on indefinitely thanks to the community-building and archiving of the Internet. Alex Pareene archivebuildcommunity Change image and share on social
FreedomWorks, which is funded primarily by very rich people, solicits donations from non-rich conservative people. More than 80,000 people donated money to FreedomWorks in 2012, and it seems likely that only a small minority of those people were hedge fund millionaires. Alex Pareene 000conservativedonate share on social
Conservatives don't want to read good, smart books. They mostly want to read Fox and talk radio hosts writing about presidents. Alex Pareene bookconservativefox Change image and share on social
In case you're unfamiliar with TED, it is a series of short lectures on a variety of subjects that stream on the Internet for free. Alex Pareene casefreeinternet Change image and share on social
From the late David Broder on down, the most powerful and influential of the great Washington columnists and journalists tend to cultivate the driest, least lively voices possible. Alex Pareene brodercolumnistcultivate Change image and share on social
I think Matt Yglesias is wrong to declare that the world of 'This Town' is dying, unless he thinks publicly financed elections, strict lobbying bans and Scandinavian-style wealth distribution are imminent. Alex Pareene bandeclaredie share on social
Niall Ferguson is an intellectual fraud whose job, for years, has been to impress dumb, rich Americans with his accent and flatter them with his writings. Alex Pareene accentamericandumb Change image and share on social
There's no good reason that reliably liberal states should be electing senators as friendly to Wall Street as Cory Booker. Alex Pareene bookercoryelect Change image and share on social
