JACOBIN

SEPTEMBER 2. 2025

Andrew Cuomo Has a Jeffrey Epstein Problem

A surprising number of Andrew Cuomo’s allies, donors, and friends have close ties to the late pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Zohran Mamdani Can Help Rebuild New York’s Labor Movement

As New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani will have a range of options to encourage large numbers of workers to unionize — essential both for improving working-class living standards in an unaffordable city and building an organized force to win his agenda.

Caught Stealing Is a Wild and Violent Romp

Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing sees the typically pretentious auteur shift gears toward fun and violence in late 1990s NYC. It’s a throwback to gritty 1970s filmmaking but set in the Giuliani era — the perfect setting for our downwardly mobile 2025.

Lula’s Coalition Beat the Right. Can It Deliver for the Left?

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s experience in power in Brazil illustrates that a broad-front strategy in campaigning is decidedly weaker as a case for how to actually govern.

The Fed Has Never Been Independent

While Donald Trump’s attacks on the Fed are deeply authoritarian, the institution itself is far from blameworthy. From the 2008 crash to the pandemic, its primary aim has been to protect the interests of the wealthy.

SEPTEMBER 1. 2025

Work, Well-Being, and the Prospect of Job Extinction

Research shows that work shapes not only material life but also identity and community. If AI erases work as we know it, it could also erase the foundations of mass politics.

We Deserve Way, Way More Time Off

There is much more to life than work. We all have families, friends, and a beautiful world to enjoy. We need more time off to enjoy it.

AUGUST 31. 2025

CVS Strangled, Then Swallowed, Rite Aid

First CVS bled Rite Aid dry with half a billion in retroactive fees, then it bought the corpse and called it consolidation. For consumers, the result is higher drug costs.

Meet Danielle Smith, Canada’s Ayn Rand in Cowboy Boots

Danielle Smith, Alberta’s leader, is fusing libertarian dogma with oil-soaked grievance politics. It’s Canada’s version of the New Right, dressed up in provincial pride.

Tipped Workers Don’t Need Tax Relief. They Need Real Wages.

Donald Trump’s No Tax on Tips policy is a major part of his appeal to working-class Americans. But tipping is itself a strange and flawed system invented to preserve inequality. Critics worry Trump’s policy will only intensify tipping culture.

Not By Popular Power Alone

Grassroots worker organization and mobilization is essential to the success of any socialist electoral project. But socialists in executive office can’t neglect other elements, like maintaining wide popular support and alliances within the state.

AUGUST 30. 2025

Intel Is Laying Off Workers While Raking In Public Largesse

Chipmaker Intel has been laying off thousands of its American workers — as it rakes in billions in subsidies from the US government and lavishes multimillion-dollar severance and compensation packages on its former and current CEOs.

Kentucky Battery Plant Workers Have Voted to Join the UAW

In a close election, 1,200 battery plant workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky voted to join the United Auto Workers this week. The ultimate outcome of the vote will hinge on 41 ballots that the union is challenging.

To Reduce Poverty, Expand the Welfare State

The policy solutions to poverty are simple: redistribute capital ownership and expand the welfare state.