In These Times

In These Times In These Times is dedicated to covering and analyzing popular movements for social, environmental and economic justice.

"Just to be clear about these attacks on our students, the goal is to outlaw protest. They’re weaponizing antisemitism t...
12/23/2025

"Just to be clear about these attacks on our students, the goal is to outlaw protest. They’re weaponizing antisemitism to go after pro-Palestinian protestors. They want to see how far they can take this...the goal is to shut us up."

Educators and organizers from the American Association of University Professors discuss how the Trump administration is systematically dismantling higher education as we know it.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/higher-education-faces-threats-by-trump-administation-aaup

“Our stores are understaffed while baristas want more hours.”That contradiction sits at the heart of the longest nationa...
12/22/2025

“Our stores are understaffed while baristas want more hours.”

That contradiction sits at the heart of the longest national work stoppage in Starbucks’ history.

In this firsthand account, Silvia Baldwin, a bargaining delegate with SBWorkersUnited, explains why more than 3,800 baristas in 130 cities are on strike against what the NLRB has called the biggest labor law violator in modern history. Despite record profits, baristas are stuck with unpredictable schedules, too few hours to qualify for benefits, and a company refusing to bargain in good faith.

From understaffed stores and closed cafés to rejected proposals for fair pay and guaranteed hours, Baldwin lays out why this fight isn’t just about wages—it’s about democracy at work and whether working people are allowed a voice at all.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/working-people-starbucks-workers-barista-historic-strike

As Trump revives the “war on terror” at home, antifascism is being recast as a criminal threat—and used to justify sweep...
12/22/2025

As Trump revives the “war on terror” at home, antifascism is being recast as a criminal threat—and used to justify sweeping repression of political opposition.

Today Alberto Toscano traces how the administration is weaponizing terrorism rhetoric and law to intimidate activists, pressure institutions into compliance, and chill organizing far beyond the far right’s caricature of “antifa.” The result is a familiar and dangerous pattern: dissent reframed as extremism, solidarity treated as suspicion.

What does antifascism actually mean in this moment—and who is really being targeted?

https://inthesetimes.com/article/antifa-everywhere-war-on-terror-cve-material-support-laws-hlf5-terrorism

"For those of us on the Left whose desire is to both defeat authoritarianism and win the future, we need to step back, a...
12/22/2025

"For those of us on the Left whose desire is to both defeat authoritarianism and win the future, we need to step back, assess the terrain and create goals and a vision that can look beyond the current fight. We can express both our disappointment and excitement, but we need to be clear-eyed on the structural questions ahead."

Alex Han writing about the hope found in the November elections.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/first-trump-era-opportunity-left-no-kings-mamdani

As Congress moves toward the biggest healthcare cuts in U.S. history, Texas offers a chilling preview of what long-term ...
12/21/2025

As Congress moves toward the biggest healthcare cuts in U.S. history, Texas offers a chilling preview of what long-term care can look like when oversight collapses.

In this new investigation produced in partnership with Type Investigations, reporter Ottavia Spaggiari takes readers inside Texas’ loosely regulated “boarding home” system, where elderly and disabled residents can end up isolated, neglected, and financially exploited—with almost no guardrails.

The story follows Angelique Estes, a 53-year-old woman with cerebral palsy, who says she was held against her will in an unlicensed home, left in soiled undergarments, fed instant noodles, and allegedly given medication she wasn’t prescribed. Her case is not an outlier—it’s a warning.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/texas-boarding-homes-elderly-disability-justice-healthcare-investigation-nursing-neglect-abuse

“Highly concentrated corporate wealth and economic inequality is a scourge on our city and society. Corporations should ...
12/21/2025

“Highly concentrated corporate wealth and economic inequality is a scourge on our city and society. Corporations should pay their fair share to support the public good.”

As Chicago’s budget standoff continues, the question shouldn’t be controversial. In this sharp, deeply grounded piece, historian Elizabeth Todd-Breland makes the case that taxing corporations is not radical—it’s necessary, and it’s rooted in history.

From the Gilded Age to the New Deal, public investments in schools, housing, transit, healthcare, and jobs were made possible because corporations were required to contribute to the common good. Chicago has done this before, too—including with the corporate head tax, now back on the table under Mayor Brandon Johnson.

At a moment of extreme inequality—when working families are stretched thin and corporate profits are soaring—this piece cuts through the myths about “job killers” and reminds us what a real social contract looks like.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/brandon-johnson-corporate-head-tax-chicago-budget

As Chicago’s budget standoff continues, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal to reinstate the city’s corporate head tax has ...
12/19/2025

As Chicago’s budget standoff continues, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal to reinstate the city’s corporate head tax has reignited debate over whether corporations should pay more to fund public services.

Historian Elizabeth Todd-Breland argues that the question itself is misplaced. Drawing on Chicago’s own history—from the Gilded Age through the New Deal—she shows how progressive taxation has long been central to funding schools, infrastructure, housing, and social programs, and challenges claims that higher corporate taxes inevitably lead to job losses.

The piece situates today’s inequality in a broader historical context, noting sharp declines in corporate tax rates over the past 50 years alongside rising corporate profits and growing economic precarity for working families. Todd-Breland also points to the end of Chicago’s corporate head tax under Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2014 as part of a broader shift toward “cut-to-grow” economic policies that reduced public revenue while expanding corporate subsidies.

As debates over public investment, inequality, and local revenue intensify, the article argues that Chicago’s current moment echoes earlier periods of extreme wealth concentration—and that history offers clear lessons about the role of taxation in supporting the public good.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/brandon-johnson-corporate-head-tax-chicago-budget

Today, Matt Bors brings us comics from Emily Flake, Jen Sorensen, Rob Rogers and Kendra Wells with predictions for the n...
12/19/2025

Today, Matt Bors brings us comics from Emily Flake, Jen Sorensen, Rob Rogers and Kendra Wells with predictions for the new year and the introduction of MurderKorp, a startup “connecting customers with ordinary people willing to murder someone for them.”

https://inthesetimes.com/article/kristi-noem-eats-dog-trump-comics

"There’s about five streams of main frontal assaults on higher ed. One is an absolute attempt at the destruction of our ...
12/19/2025

"There’s about five streams of main frontal assaults on higher ed. One is an absolute attempt at the destruction of our biomedical research infrastructure and then our broader research infrastructure from there. The funding agency that’s taken the biggest hit is the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is the biggest biomedical research funding organization in the world."

Maximillian Alvarez of Working People reports.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/higher-education-faces-threats-by-trump-administation-aaup

The climbing gym isn’t just about fitness — it’s a workplace.Workers at Touchstone Climbing Gym unionized five locations...
12/18/2025

The climbing gym isn’t just about fitness — it’s a workplace.

Workers at Touchstone Climbing Gym unionized five locations across Los Angeles, winning wall-to-wall representation with Workers United, an SEIU affiliate. Now they’re in the harder phase: fighting for a first contract that delivers fair pay, real safety standards, and clear communication on the job.

In March, Mel Buer spoke with Touchstone workers and organizers about why they unionized, how the climbing community rallied behind them, and what it’s been like negotiating with an anti-union law firm across the table.

As one worker puts it: “When you are organizing, it’s not about money — it’s about power.”

https://inthesetimes.com/article/inside-the-fight-to-unionize-californias-climbing-gyms-working-people-podcast

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