WASHINGTON — The disinformation operation was christened “Project Clintonson.” It brought together two notorious figures in Republican political circles, Blackwater founder Erik Prince and Trump adviser Roger Stone. Their objective couldn’t have been more explicit. “We do not need to make major gains among African American voters,” said a 13-page …
Read More »'The Next Wave' With Ricky Hurtado
Ricky Hurtado will be the first to tell you that his historic bid for a seat in the North Carolina legislature has stakes not just for the future of that swing state but for the nation. A first-generation immigrant and a teacher, the 31-year-old Hurtado would be the first-ever Latino …
Read More »Stephanie Lambring Wrestles With Daddy Issues on an Alt-Country Gem
Stephanie Lambring is hardly the first singer-songwriter to arrive in Nashville with tales of a loaded upbringing full of parental over-involvement. But on “Daddy’s Disappointment,” the opening track to Lambring’s new tour-de-force LP, Autonomy, the Indiana native mines such pestering into one of the most irresistible roots-rock gems of the …
Read More »Beto O'Rourke, Arcade Fire's Win Butler Talk Flipping Texas During 'Fridays for Unity' Chat
Beto O’Rourke and Arcade Fire’s Win Butler spoke about the growing possibility of a political transformation in Texas during last week’s Rolling Stone’s Fridays for Unity event. As O’Rourke noted, it’s not only feasible that Joe Biden could win the long-red state in the presidential election, but Democrats also have …
Read More »Matt Berninger Is a Master of Gloomy Beauty on 'Serpentine Prison'
“I’m near the bottom/Name the blues, I’ve got ‘em,” the National frontman Matt Berninger sings on the delicately despondent “Oh, Dearie,” from his debut solo LP. It’s a song about being completely asphyxiated by fear and doubt — certainly a message for our times. But don’t call the crisis hotline …
Read More »How Do We Fix American Democracy?
In the heady days after the 2016 election, a pair of political scientists, Valerie Bunce and Mark Beissinger, posed an unsettling question: “How might American democracy end?” Until Donald Trump’s ascent to the White House, such a question felt, well, academic. The United States was the longest-running democracy on Earth; …
Read More »How a Fake Rent-a-Hitman Site Became an Accidental Murder-for-Hire Sting Operation
A few months ago, a 51-year-old woman from Michigan named Wendy Wein sent an email to a man she believed was named Guido Fanelli, the proprietor of a website called Rent-A-Hitman.com. “Got A Problem That Needs Resolving? With Over 17,985 U.S. Based Field Operatives, We Can Find A Solution Thats …
Read More »'SNL': See Jim Carrey's Biden as 'The Fly' on Pence's Head in VP Debate Sketch
Saturday Night Live opened with a sketch about the vice presidential debate and “the fly” that stole the show, with the cold open also spoofing the 1986 sci-fi film The Fly. Compared to the season premiere’s insane Biden vs. Trump showdown, the debate between Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris and Beck …
Read More »'The First Time' With Lauren Cohan
The Walking Dead actress Lauren Cohan didn’t think she would reprise her character Maggie Greene in the show’s season 10 finale, which airs this Sunday, October 4th. But after the cancellation of Whiskey Cavalier, in which she starred, it only seemed right to return to her most iconic role. “[Showrunner] …
Read More »Laura Jane Grace Is Just Trying to Survive
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Laura Jane Grace had a panic attack, quit smoking weed, and decided to put out a record. Thursday, she dropped Stay Alive with little warning or preamble — a raw, unedited missive from lockdown. “I just wanted to make a record and I wanted to …
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