December
27, 2024
Selections
from a year of long-form investigations, global dispatches, political analyses,
commentaries, essays, film reviews and more.
Digs
For
our Dig series of long-form multipart investigations, Émile P. Torres explored
the racist techno-utopian ideologies rooted in eugenics in ‘The Acronym Behind
Our Wildest AI Dreams and Nightmares.’
Marc
Cooper revisited the 1973 military coup that removed the socialist Chilean
president Salvador Allende, investigated its aftermath and considered its
lingering impact on contemporary Chile. In a fascinating interview with
historian Peter Kornbluh, “Kissinger and the CIA in Chile,” he explored the
role of the recently deceased former U.S. secretary of state in orchestrating
the coup.
Russ
Hausfeld investigated the politics of psychedelic research and how veterans
became the unlikely mascots for medical MDMA. “Part II: Who’s Researching the
Researchers?,” sheds light on veterans who entrusted the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) with their trauma and have since
made allegations of manipulation and deceit.
Chris
Ketcham argued that renewable energy is insufficient to sustain our current
consumption rates in the “The Green Growth Delusion,” which dissected policy
proposals such as the Green New Deal and explored the concept of ‘ecological
footprint analysis.’
In
“Should We Be Mining the Ocean Floor?,” Rachel Reeves’ took an in-depth look at
the global competition for deep-sea minerals used for renewable-energy
technologies and scrutinized the ecological impacts of offshore mining.
Bill
Blum analyzed the political and ideological capture of the Supreme Court by the
GOP and its dark-money donors, and delved into Franklin Roosevelt’s failed
court-expansion plan in “It Will Take a Political Movement to Reform a
Politicized Supreme Court.”
Investigative
Stories
Justin
Noble investigated an under-reported fracking-related contamination zone in
‘West Virginia’s Chernobyl,’ sparking a resurgence in local activism and
demands by ex-employees around the issue. Tana Ganeva traveled to Arkansas to
dig into why a man starved to death in an Arkansas jail. Matt Broomfield
reported from Kurdish Syria on Rojava’s “Improvised Revolution.”
U.S.
Politics
Erin
Aubry Kaplan examined how Republicans are trying to destroy the country from
within through the politics of secession. Bill Blum argued the Supreme Court’s
assault on voting rights is just getting warmed up. Jim Knipfel wrote about a
little-known case he called Jack Daniel’s vs. the People’s Right to Spoof
Corporate America. Myriam Gurba reported on the rehabbing of former L.A. City
Council President Nury Martinez. Michael Datcher decried a national resurgence
of hate and the “erasure” of Juneteenth.
Ear
to the Ground
Truthdig
writers put their “Ear to the Ground” and filed reports on the healing we owe
our vets, global cries for a ceasefire in Gaza, a climate victory in Ecuador,
the immigrant crisis in New York and why Texas prisons feel like “Being Baked
in a Concrete Oven.”
Global
Voices: Truthdig Women Reporting
Among
the Global Voices contributors writing from their home countries, Kamin
Mohammadi reported on thousands of female students who have been hospitalized
with mysterious illnesses in Iran. Liubov Tsareva explained how a female-led
anti-war movement is “Fighting the Patriarchy in Mother Russia.” Raksha Kumar
wrote about rampant domestic violence and alcohol abuse in India.
TD
Interviews
Ed
Rampell interviewed the celebrated director Oliver Stone about JFK’s
assassination and subsequent cover-up. Erin Aubry Kaplan interviewed the
co-founder of Black Lives Matter Melina Abdullah about racial equity and
reflected on the movement’s progress. Alexander Zaitchik spoke with 2024
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and Green Party candidate
Jill Stein. Ed Rampell interviewed independent candidate Cornel West.
Environment
Michael
Balter examined the latest alarming research around glyphosate in “This
Herbicide Is Everywhere. But Should It Be?” Jessica Scott-Reid outlined the
layers of environmental destruction of industrial-scale cattle farming and
revealed the “fallacy of ‘Climate Friendly’ beef.” Philip Armour investigated
the Colorado Gross Dam project and the impending water crisis in the American
West.
Profiles
Alexander
Zaitchik explained how Matt Christman became the “grill master of Acid
Marxism.” Paul Von Blum recalled the scourge of McCarthyism and the politically
motivated state executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Florida resident Jeb
Lund describes Ron Desantis’s “Blitzkrieg to Loserville.”
Photo
Essays
Photojournalist
Michael Nigro captured soldiers and civilians maneuvering through the ruins in
Ukraine in “Repurposed for War.” In “The Battle Against Lithium Mining at
Thacker Pass,” Jeff Schwilk illustrated Native Americans’ fight for the
wildlife and fauna on sacred land. Marc Cooper’s “The Radical Walls of
Santiago” showcased murals in Chile that encapsulate the country’s political
journey.
Arts
& Culture
Film
Siddhant
Adlakha and Ed Rampell, both winners at this year’s LA Press Club Awards,
published dozens of reviews. Adlakha listed his top picks from Cannes, and
Carrie Rickey broke down her favorites from the New York Film Festival.
Truthdig
rounded up 80 years of onscreen atomic anxiety in Nuclear Cinema and Jim
Knipfel shared his favorite unconventional holiday movies in “Have Yourself a
Twisted Little Xmas.”
Sound
& Music
DIG
SCAPES’ Bart Plantanga created sonic mashups that served as soundtracks to
stories about everything from the resurgence in eugenics to environmental
devastation. Jim Knipfel celebrated a half century of the Residents and
compiled a playlist of essential Halloween songs in Music to Die For: An All
Hallows Eve Top 40.
Books
In
“Is Crypto the Greatest Scam in History?” Lynn Parramore interviewed author
Peter Howson on his new book “Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That’s
Ruining The World.” In his essay, “Book Banning Reaches Historic, Ominous
Levels in the US,” Stephen Rohde delved into the alarming wave of titles being
pulled from libraries and curricula across the country.
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