Even Perfect Liberal Governance Could Not Have Stopped Reactionary Populism
by Jonathan Rauch
When voters start asking whose country it is, does a strong economy even matter?
0:00 / 13:59 · Narrator Charon
Daily edition
2026-10-18
Today's Crosscut
Ancient Boats and Artifacts
The desperate search for a mythical ark inside a rock formation is a far cry from the quiet discovery of an actual, thousand-year-old wooden canoe resting in the mud of a Wisconsin lake.
Why People Keep Looking for Noah’s Ark in a Natural Rock Formation in Turkey: a Scholar of Early Christianity Explains × A Diver Volunteered to Clean up Trash From a Wisconsin Lake. He Discovered a 1,000-Year-Old Dugout Canoe at the Bottom Instead
0:00 / 16:56 · Narrator Sulafat/Charon/Vindemiatrix
Future-gazing →
The Mythos of Digital Sovereignty
by Bulelani Jili
If a country has to rent its digital defenses from a tech company, who is actually in charge?
0:00 / 15:08 · Narrator Sulafat
Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time
When an old mill dam comes down, how quickly does a town remember its own river?
0:00 / 25:13 · Narrator Gacrux
Behind the news →
A Nobel for New Keynesian Macro, at Last!
by Noah Smith
How do you steer an economy when the people inside it anticipate your every move?
0:00 / 18:59 · Narrator Algieba
For the curious →
We Are Already Post-Human
by Nathan Gardels
If people can no longer survive without their devices, are they already part machine?
0:00 / 7:46 · Narrator Rasalgethi