In a calendar year in which I’ve been able to finish reading very few books—so diminished is my mental capacity and so sapped is my emotional resilience by the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic—one book just knocked me off my feet and reminded me why reading novels is such an essential part of life. That book is Courtney Milan’s The Devil Comes Courting.
If you’re active in a certain sphere of Twitter, you may have seen one of Kristen Arnett’s viral jokes. Arnett, a lesbian writer based in Florida, has a knack for crafting the perfect internet dad joke—think puns about animals named after famous writers, what foods are (and are not) technically ravioli, and the euphoric wonders of 7-Eleven. Arnett is also a bestselling writer.
It has become a Daily Kos tradition for me to republish this Memorial Day story I wrote in 2016. I have ancestors, Black and white, who fought for the Union during the Civil War. This is posted in their honor. —DOV
A pencil drawing and a grainy photo in the Library of Congress are all that is left of the cemetery where 257 Union soldiers were buried after the Civil War, on what had been a race course in Charleston, South Carolina.
It’s been a helluva a century so far, huh? With a brief eight-year hiatus, during which Republicans got ever worse, it has been an unrelentingly awful reality, with the last four years being nearly unbearable. It’s better with the former guy gone, but it’s still pretty awful. Republicans have no bottom. They have seemingly just one intention right now: make life as hellish as possible for the rest of the world.
“No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities,” Republican Greg Abbott tweeted after a late-night walkout by Democratic state lawmakers blocked the bill.
The former governor of South Carolina dragged the vice president for not honoring the troops on Twitter — only to do the same thing herself.
In his first Memorial Day address as president, Biden both honored those who fight for democracy and highlighted issues currently threatening it.
The Fox News political analyst blasted the GOP in a Memorial Day essay to remember.
I want to be a giving partner, but this is really a lot to ask.
Nearly 80 years ago, Richard Wright became one of the most famous Black writers in the United States with the publication of “Native Son.” The novel’s searing critique of systemic racism made it a best-seller and inspired a generation of Black writers.
A new four-part documentary series, “Exterminate All the Brutes,” delves deeply into the legacy of European colonialism from the Americas to Africa. It has been described as an unflinching narrative of genocide and exploitation, beginning with the colonizing of Indigenous land that is now called the United States.
Can you think of a good reason not to try a cicada, other than “ew”? I’ve posed this question to numerous friends and family, even my partner’s extended relatives, now that Brood X is swarming parts of the United States. Eating cicadas just makes sense, even for someone like me, who’s been a stalwart vegetarian since basically the last time they appeared, in 2004.
Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the most famous pastors in America. His multi-thousand-member Dallas megachurch, the Potter’s House, is just one part of his platform; he’s recorded gospel albums, starred in television broadcasts, led several popular conference series, and published numerous books, including his latest, Don’t Drop the Mic.
Two weeks after my wife and I moved to Los Angeles, a large man pedaled up to me in a parking lot in West Hollywood. He was sunburned, caked in grime. His bike was sized for a 12-year-old boy. Perhaps it had recently belonged to a 12-year-old boy.
This poem is dedicated to all the men and women, regardless of faith, who made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation. I have stood before the crosses
as we laid a soldier down.
They cast a simple shadow
upon the upturned ground.The bugler sounds taps
as each cross its witness bears
to the journey of a soldier
released from earthly cares.
“I’d like to be able to offer a defense, but I don’t have a good one.
Parenting advice on MILs, crybabies, and having kids.
The FDA decision to allow patients to receive the pills via telemedicine or through the mail during the pandemic has galvanized both sides of the abortion wars.
Industries pressing their case before state lawmakers are banking on polls finding widespread support for these new conveniences.
He wants me to move in with him. I’m suspicious of his motives—but it sure would be nice not to have to worry about rent.
Get ready for HQ2, uh, part two.
Years ago, I pleaded with him to get health insurance. Now I’m being ostracized due to his carelessness.
Joe Biden says the pickup truck is fast. It’s heavy, too.
Lawmakers see an opening to cover millions of low-income adults while the party’s other major health care priorities face tough odds.
Businesses can continue to require customers and employees to wear coverings, the governor said.
Omitting traditional anti-abortion provisions from his budget proposal could be his strongest statement yet on the issue.
The U.S. Senate’s abdication of duty at the start of this Memorial Day weekend, when 11 senators (nine of them Republican) did not even show up to vote on authorizing an investigation of the January 6 insurrection, makes the item below particularly timely.Fifty-four senators (including six Republicans) voted to approve the investigative commission. Only 35 opposed it.But in the institutionalized rule-of-the-minority that is the contemporary Senate, the measure “failed.
She thinks she has a “rom-com” relationship. I just found out the truth.
Netflix’s history of Black American food serves up the shock of the familiar.
