Ideas & Academia
Heather McGhee on the Costs of Racism and How to Create Shared Prosperity
Blue Tent editor David Callahan talks to Heather McGhee about how she came to write her New York Times bestselling book and what she hopes to achieve with its publication. Read more
Apr 21, 2021
Image via Chad Davis/Creative Commons.
What the Rise in Mutual Aid Foreshadows for the Progressive Movement
Whether based in neighborhoods or around identity groups, mutual aid networks are evidence of the growing push toward interdependence and away from individualism. Read more
Mar 16, 2021
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Quincy Institute's Suzanne DiMaggio on Reimagining U.S. Foreign Policy
The Quincy Institute was founded to push for a more restrained foreign policy. We talk to its co-founder about how it's challenging conventional thinking and how it hopes to influence Biden. Read more
Mar 10, 2021
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The Democratic Taboo on Palestine Might be Breaking
With their new book, authors Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick are pushing to open up the conversation within the left-of-center coalition about Israel and the Palestinians. Read more
Mar 4, 2021
Spencer Overton on Leading a Think Tank Focused on Black America
Blue Tent's David Callahan talks to Overton about his work to revive the Joint Center for Economic and Political Studies, the challenges of scaling a think tank, and the need to invest in Black policy experts. Read more
Mar 1, 2021
Felicia Wong on Challenging Neoliberalism and Reimagining Capitalism
Blue Tent founder David Callahan talks with Felicia Wong of the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank that's been laser-focused on challenging neoliberalism and calling for a new set of rules to govern the economy. Read more
Feb 12, 2021
Beowulf Sheehan
Look South: Charles Blow Tries His Hand at a Big Idea
We talk with the New York Times columnist about his new book, "The Devil You Know," which argues that Black voters should seek the path to power (and a better life) by moving to the South. Read more
Feb 2, 2021
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Meet the “Zoomer” Feminists of the Future
If you listen to enough Twitter activists, you’ll be convinced feminism is dead. But Generation Z's answer to the problems of yesterday's feminism proves that the women's movement is far from dead. Read more
Jan 17, 2021
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Jacob Hacker’s Public Option May Finally Have its Moment (Again)
Hacker, the father of the public option, talks to us about this signature policy’s “long gestation period" and the possibilities for healthcare reform as Joe Biden prepares to take office. Read more
Jan 15, 2021
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The Democracy Collaborative Is On a 30-Year-Plan for Changing the Economy
This organization uses big money funding to bring people together in the name of economic democracy. Read more
Jan 14, 2021
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Omar Wasow's Years-Long Research Met a Once-in-a-Generation Movement
Omar Wasow spent years researching the links between the civil rights movement, violent protests, and law and order. He published his findings a week before the largest social movement in American history. Read more
Jan 14, 2021
Ian Haney López on How to Build a Multiracial, Working Class Coalition
Lopez has been working for years to neutralize the power of dog-whistle politics, researching why this strategy works and how progressives should (and shouldn't) respond. Read more
Jan 13, 2021
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These Scholars, Journalists, and Activists are Fighting Segregation
Decades after the passage of civil rights legislation, segregation in housing and schools persists. Meet some of the writers, thinkers, and activists keeping the fight for integration alive. Read more
Dec 22, 2020
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A Long Time Coming: These Scholars Have Long Been Pushing for Changes in Policing
Over the past six months, the need to reform policing has become a top national issue. A handful of scholars have been working on this issue for years, even decades. Read more
Dec 17, 2020
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A Small Group of Law Students is Working to Unrig the System
People's Parity Project asks law students and legal professionals to rethink the levers they have available to effect change. The organization is attracting more members and attention. Read more
Dec 16, 2020
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Read These 11 Scholars to Understand the New Left
It's not just grassroots activists fueling the new energy on the left. The ideas of academics, historians, and policy wonks have played an important role in shaping this moment. Read more
Dec 9, 2020
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These Scholars Have Bold Plans to Expand and Protect American Democracy
If Democrats want to protect and expand American democracy, they can look to these scholars and their bold plans. Read more
Nov 10, 2020
How an Influential Nonprofit Publisher Survived a Pandemic and Informed a Social Movement
Not long after funders saved the New Press from the existential threat of COVID-19, the publisher couldn't keep up with surging demand for books on racial justice. TNP’s James Phelan tells the story of a “surreal famine-to-feast reversal.” Read more
Jul 23, 2020
