Lefty Stacks

Lately, political writers have called attention to the tendency of billionaire Elon Musk to refer to his political opponents as “NPCs.” This term comes from the gaming world and refers to a nonplayer character, a character that follows a scripted path and cannot think or act on its own, and is there...

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

And last week’s winner

Friends,

March 9, 2025

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made it clear that the Trump administration’s goal is to slash the federal government and to privatize its current services.

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

A recording from Robert B. Hubbell's live video

March 8, 2025

Comms from Armageddon

March 8, 2025

With Michael Lahanas-Calderón and yours truly, Robert Reich

Black Americans outnumbered white Americans among the 29,500 people who lived in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s, but the city’s voting rolls were 99% white.

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

This week’s ten

Hi, all, and happy Friday.

This morning, Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke of Reuters reported that the Trump administration is preparing to deport the 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia’s attacks on Ukraine and have temporary legal status in the United States.

A confrontation seen with a historian's eye

March 7, 2025

March 6, 2025

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Friends,

Hi, all, and happy Thursday.

In the gym of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, former and future prime minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill rose to deliver a speech.

March 5, 2025

And What the Cuts to the National Endowment for Democracy Take Away

We’ve been traveling and between that and the fact that the news has come faster and faster, the letters have crept later and later.

March 4, 2025

Wednesday mini-edition

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

March 5, 2025

Friends,

Five quick tests for the US in a two-minute video

Friends,

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday.

As seemed evident even at the time, the ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday was a setup to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russia’s invasion.

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

Boycott Trump’s address to Congress tonight. If you must go, make good trouble.

Hi, all, and happy Monday.

How to get from war to peace