Eric Shear

My cousin could never speak about his addiction without speaking about the lack of meaning in his life. His last text to me was three days before he overdosed on April 9, 2018: “I believe in God a hundred percent. I love him and he does me right. We have our own relationship. But he didn’t give me that compass.” Mikey and I grew up together in a family of scallopers in Massachusetts, where fishing is as much a lifestyle as it is a career. As a child, Mikey taught me to tie nautical knots in my shoelaces. As a teenager, he sent videos of scallop-shucking races between him and my other cousins. For our family, work and meaning weave together like a tapestry and it’s impossible to untangle one from the other. But as a young adult, Mikey’s opportunities dried up and he, like many others, struggled to keep a job. Without it, he lost his sense of direction.

As soon as she heard that New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had appointed Richard Carranza as the city’s new chancellor of education, Wai Wah Chin was worried.

In classic westerns the conflicts are straightforward.

Americal culture is made up of ideas and institutions that are passed down and accepted from one generation to the next, making up our distinctive way of life.

Listening to politicians discuss pop culture would be hilarious, if it wasn’t so pitiful.

“Who funds you?” This is a question that I, and many staff members of public interest law firms and mission-driven nonprofits, encounter frequently.

On February 5, 2017, Tom Brady marched the New England Patriots down the field in overtime, scored the game-winning touchdown, overcame a 25-point deficit, and won Super Bowl LI. That day proved one thing: Great offense wins games. In public interest law, going on offense means winning the right cases to establish important legal precedent on your issues. But winning those cases doesn’t happen by accident. It takes organizational strategy, dedicated attorneys and clients, and an ability to adapt and adjust when the plan falls apart.

A recent article by The Intercept described, in worried tones, the case of Cherk v. County of Marin.

Vince Lombardi once said, “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

Behind the Iron Curtain, Western-loving youths embraced American pop culture and fashion with feverish enthusiasm.

When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed, most political observers saw it as socialism’s swan song.

Socialism, In theory, is economic policy. But in practice, socialism has profound consequences on free speech.