Featured
The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History. By David Frum / The Atlantic
Anne Applebaum on America’s backsliding democracy
In this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum reflects on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, examining how postwar reconciliation—not battlefield triumph—became America’s true finest hour. He contrasts that legacy with Donald Trump’s recent bombastic Victory Day statement, urging a rededication to the values that built a more peaceful world.
David is then joined by The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum to discuss the astonishing and brazen corruption of the Trump presidency, how authoritarian regimes seek to break institutions, and the hardship of losing friendships to politics. Read more and/or listen here
Related: Trump’s Failings Are Obvious. Why Are People Still Surprised? By Jamelle Bouie / NYT
Related: “A free fall not seen in modern history”: 100 days of destruction. By Chauncey Devega / Salon
Political / Social
Stephen Miller’s Former Colleague Reveals Why He Is a ‘Horrible Human Being.’ By Julia Ornedo / The Daily Beast
Former homeland security adviser Olivia Troye didn’t hold back when asked about one of President Donald Trump’s top aides.
“I think what you see is what you get with him,” Troye said when political commentator Charlie Sykes asked her about Miller. “He is a horrible human being. I think he is someone who has gone all in, down the rabbit hole, on extremism. And I think in his mind, there would be no migrants, immigrants, or any mixed race in our country.” Read more
This Executive Order Reveals the Trump-Musk Endgame. By Elie Mystal / The Nation
A recent order aimed at destroying independent regulatory agencies isn’t just about taking control of the state—it’s a giant cash-grab in disguise.
The orders and actions of Donald Trump and his copresident Elon Musk are all part of a piece. The most obvious goal is to establish authoritarian, single-party control in the United States of America, and we know that because they wrote down their plan in Project 2025 and have been executing that plan every day since they took office. But we should understand why they want such power. Read more
Moore preaches a new brand of patriotism amid speculation of 2028 run. By Erin Cox / Wash Post
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore used a commencement speech at an HBCU attended by his grandfather to urge a more nuanced understanding of patriotism.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore used a commencement speech Sunday at Lincoln University, a historically Black school in Pennsylvania attended by his grandfather, to urge the country’s young people to find a middle ground between raging against the country’s ugly chapters and blindly embracing American exceptionalism. Read more
How Ohio became a hotbed of white supremacism, spreading its tentacles globally. By Stephen Starr / The Guardian
The rise of a resurgent American white supremacism is reaching around the globe, often with deadly consequences
In recent years, Ohio has seen a marked shift to the right. The perpetrator of the 2017 Charlottesville car attack that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and the founder of the Daily Stormer, an influential neo-Nazi website, are both from Ohio. The plot to kill the Democratic Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, was formulated in Dublin, the same well-to-do Columbus suburb where Cook spent part of his childhood. Read more
Carceral Apartheid: An Interview with Brittany Friedman. By Robert Greene II / AAIHS
In today’s post, Dr. Robert Greene II, the President of AAIHS and Assistant Professor of History at Claflin University, interviews award-winning sociologist Dr. Brittany Friedman about her first book, Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons (University of North Carolina Press, 2025).
Robert Greene II (RG): Your latest book, Carceral Apartheid, grapples with two core themes that are central to your scholarship: racial injustice and mass incarceration. Can you tell more about the origins of Carceral Apartheid? What factors motivated you to write this important study? Read more
The Color Of Health: Changing The Narrative Around Mental Health In The Black Community. By Shannon Dawson / Newsone
For too long, mental health has been a taboo subject in the Black community, shrouded in silence, stigma, and misconceptions—It’s time for a change!
Historically, the Black community has faced unique and ongoing challenges—systemic racism, economic disparities, intergenerational trauma, and cultural pressure to “stay strong.” All of these factors have compromised our mental health. As a result, many have been conditioned to suppress emotional pain and “push through,” often at the cost of their mental well-being, which has led to some stark and deeply concerning outcomes. Read more
Education News (New)
A Place to Learn Your Place: Education and Racial Capitalism. By Eve L. Ewing / The Progressive Magazine
For Black and Native children, schools are also a place where their ordained role within a capitalist society is taught, reinforced, and ultimately normalized.
The distribution of wealth in our country is deeply unequal, and institutions of higher education not only fail to remedy that inequality, they also have a hand in legitimizing it. But far before young people reach college age, they receive messages about capitalist hierarchy and their place in it. Schools are the place where we learn the ropes—we establish the rules for how our democracy is to function. Read more
Trump and Harvard Both Want ‘Viewpoint Diversity.’ What Does It Mean? Jennifer Schuessler / NYT
The administration has accused the university of lacking viewpoint diversity. Harvard is fighting its demands, but embracing the vague term.
The billion-dollar standoff between the Trump administration and Harvard features stark disagreements — and at least one two-word point of convergence: “viewpoint diversity.” In its letter last month threatening to cut Harvard’s federal funding, the administration accused the university of lacking it, and demanded that Harvard submit to a thorough external audit of the problem. Read more
Related: GOP to grill universities ‘beyond the Ivy League’ about antisemitism. By Susan Svrluga / Wash Post
‘The universities are the enemy’: why the right detests the American campus. By Lauren Lassabe Shepherd / The Guardian
For centuries, the academy was exclusive to the Christian elite. When that began to change, an onslaught began
The Maga movement, of which Vance, the vice-president, is now at the forefront, has been unabashedly on the attack against campuses, professors and students. Donald Trumpcharacterizes colleges as “dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics”, and student protesters as “radicals”, “savages” and “jihadists” who have been indoctrinated by faculty “communists and terrorists”. Read more
Related: Conservative voices are pushing back on UF presidential pick Ono. By Ian Hodgson / Tampa Bay Times
Is the End Near for Black Colleges? By William Spivey / Level
How long before HBCUs come under increased fire?
Last weekend, I attended a college reunion at my alma mater, Fisk University. It was also graduation, and the Class of ’75 was celebrating their 50th Anniversary. I have two more years to go, God willing. The Class of 2025 was graduating, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Fisk University or any other HBCUs would be around for their 50th? Read more
5 Reasons to Fear Trump’s Attempt to Segregate Schools Again. By Lawrence Ware / The Root
The President wants us to trust that white parents will do what is in the best intrest of Black kids…but will they?
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana last week. The administration said that that the fact that the order was still on the books was a “historical wrong.” They also said that they were looking to end other desegregation orders that put “an unnecessary burden on schools.” This is not good. Read more
Related: Justice Department ends decades-old Louisiana school desegregation order. By AP and CNN
World News
This Is the Moment of Moral Reckoning in Gaza.
Mr. Carroll is the president and chief executive of the nonprofit group American Near East Refugee Aid. He wrote from Amman, Jordan.
A full-blown humanitarian emergency in Gaza is no longer looming. It is here, and it is catastrophic. It’s been more than two months since Israel cut off all humanitarian aid and commercial supplies into Gaza. The World Food Program delivered its last stores of food on April 25. Two million Palestinians in Gaza, nearly half of them children, are now surviving on a single meal every two or three days. Read more
Rwanda in ‘early stages’ of talks with U.S. to take in deported migrants. By Kate Bartlett / NPR
Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe speaks during a Declaration of Principles signing ceremony with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner on April 25 at the State Department in Washington.
Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Rwandan state TV that his government was in “early talks” with Washington regarding taking in third-country nationals deported from the U.S. Nduhungirehe said plans weren’t concrete yet, but noted that Rwanda has experience in taking in migrants, saying, “it’s not the first time that we’d be engaging in such a kind of deal.” Read more
Related: Trump Administration Live Updates: U.S. Plans to Send Migrants to Libya, Officials Say. NYT
A Look Back At Nelson Mandela’s Historic Presidency. By Shannon Dawson / Newsone
When Nelson Mandela won the first-ever multiracial presidential election in South Africa on May 2, 1994, the freedom fighter changed the course of history. Here’s how.
The world witnessed a moment that was both deeply symbolic and profoundly transformative. After spending 27 years as a political prisoner under South Africa’s brutal apartheid regime, Mandela emerged not just as a free man, but as a leader determined to heal a divided nation. His presidency marked the beginning of a new era in South African history, one rooted in justice, equality, and reconciliation. Read more
Ethics / Morality Religion
A Battle That Shaped Black Evangelicals. By Jessica Janvier / Christianity Today
Preachers like John Marrant proclaimed the gospel across cultures. But the persistence—and defense—of slavery challenged their ministries.
Books, essays, and articles written by evangelical historians since then have largely followed in Edwards’s footsteps. Typically, the story of early American evangelicalism focuses on white male revival leaders, with marginal glances toward Black people. As a result, many—if not most—people carry a skewed perception of early evangelicalism and the diversity present in its days. Read more
The Supreme Court Is About to Let Religion Ruin Public Education. By Pema Levy / Mother Jones
In modern America, religious education is offered in private schools or in a homeschooling setting. Public education, by contrast, is secular, because the government is not in the business of sponsoring religious indoctrination.
But in two cases the Supreme Court heard over roughly the last week, the justices appear ready to throw out public education as we know it and usher in a new era where tax dollars flow to religious schools and religion can dictate what is taught in public classrooms. When the decisions come down, public education may change forever. Read more
‘Sinners’ is a Black challenge to White Christianity. By Karen Attiah / Wash Post
Ryan Coogler’s masterpiece mixes African spirits, the American church and the power of music into a terrifying brew.
The great, pioneering Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti once said: “Music is a spiritual thing — you don’t play with music. If you play with music, you will die young. Because when the higher forces give you the gift of music — musicianship — it must be well used, for the good of humanity.” Read more
Historical / Cultural
James’ Won the Pulitzer, but Not Without Complications. Alexandra Alter / NYT
When Percival Everett’s novel “James” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction on Monday, it seemed like an obvious choice. Everett’s subversive reimagining of “Huckleberry Finn” had already landed critical acclaim and a string of literary honors, including the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize.
In a surprising twist, the prize went to Everett after the Pulitzer committee’s board failed to reach a consensus on the three finalists that the fiction jury initially presented — Rita Bullwinkel’s “Headshot,” Stacey Levine’s “Mice 1961,” and Gayl Jones’s “The Unicorn Woman.” Read more
Donald Trump’s War on History. By David Corn / Mother Jones
Like other autocrats, he wants to control the nation’s story and police thought.
Authoritarianism cannot exist with free thought. It must dominate the societal discourse and prevent debate. That means it must also dictate history. The Nazis knew this. Read more
Smokey Robinson Accused By 4 Former Housekeepers Of Sexual Assault, Rape. By Andrew Dalton / HuffPost
The women said they didn’t immediately come forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.
The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024, and labor violations including a hostile work environment, illegally long hours and lack of pay. Read more
Sports
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich leaves legacy of speaking up against injustice. By Marc J. Spears / Andscape
Basketball Hall of Famer’s retirement from coaching comes with reminders of using his platform to support marginalized people
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich’s retirement took the winningest and perhaps the greatest head coach in NBA history off the sideline. Also gone but certainly not forgotten is how Popovich used his platform to speak against racial, social and political injustice. Read more
How Stephen Curry, veteran game changer, hopes to change golf. By Michael Lee / Wash Post
With Underrated Golf, Curry is working to diversify the (other) game he loves.
Stephen Curry has made a career out of finding gaps in a defense and using what little space is available to get off thrill-inducing shots, including in his most recent Game 7 triumph. To find a niche in a sport that has become his passion away from his profession, Curry has used a similar approach — by recognizing a void in golf and pulling up. Read more
Related: The Warriors brace for life without an injured Stephen Curry. By Ben Golliver / Wash Post
Locs illustrate the stories of Black players’ lives on and off the court. By Mia Berry / Andscape
‘It’s not just hair – it’s expression, history, culture, and it’s legacy in so many different ways’
When Jones first decided to loc her hair, she said, her loctician – a hairstylist who specializes in maintaining locs – provided support and encouragement. “She was just like, ‘Oh, my God, you got the perfect hair texture for locs. Like, your hair holds in moisture, and it absorbs moisture, your hair is gonna look so good,’” Jones told Andscape. “And I feel like she really spoke a lot of life, love and light into my hair as she was starting my locs and gave me a good foundation.” Read more
President Trump, ignore Saban, Tuberville, and keep hands off college football. By Blake Toppmeyer / USA Today
Nick Saban thinks college football needs to be fixed and that the federal government should become involved in the fixing. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., shares that belief, and he warns that the sport is “in danger.” In danger of what, exactly?
Also, how and why should the federal government be involved in fixing college football’s problems, insomuch as they exist? And, goodness me, why should President Donald Trump insert himself into this situation? Read more
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