Friday Nite Videos | July 31, 2026

Rosie Sings an Irish Classic for a Very Special Boy. We Investigated Uber Again. It’s Worse Than Last Time. Was Mamdani's Mandarin AI? The Blooper Reel Reveals the Truth. John Oliver: Trump & Crypto. Trump in Diapers and Losing Control?

Why It Might Be Time To Rethink the Human Family Tree

New fossils, advances in genetics, and better ways to figure out who’s related to whom show the current grouping into Homo, Australopithecus and Paranthropus doesn’t reflect the true shape of our family tree.

That Stunning Florida Senate Win

A democratic socialist manages to build the coalition that has long eluded the left.

We Are Witnessing the Decline of Corporate Democrats

Voters are backing progressives because they want candidates who will fight for the working class. Corporate Democrats are on the defensive because their campaign cash isn’t working the way it used to.

Trump Pardons Have Cost Crime Victims $1.7 Billion

The investigation by the Judiciary Committee and ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) detailed dozens of pardons which zeroed out unpaid fines and restitution of Trump allies and supporters, including money owed by January 6 Capitol rioters.

What Is “Far Left”?

The growing visibility of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and victories by some DSA-backed candidates has triggered an upsurge of redbaiting by Republicans and fear-mongering by moderate Democrats.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, the Union Organizer’s Scholar

Kate Bronfenbrenner, who retired this year from Cornell University, has studied how workers win unions, how employers stop them, how organizers can learn from one another for four decades. Her findings have changed how unions think about organizing.

Gen Z Isn’t Apolitical. It’s Lost Faith in Capitalism.

This generation does not trust parties, leaders, or institutions. It also votes, boycotts, protests, organizes online, quits jobs, channels its anger through digital platforms. Most importantly, it can turn everyday life into a political battleground

Collapse of Nuclear Arms Control Puts World in Peril

Nuclear weapons spending is soaring, arms-control treaties are collapsing and national leaders are once again threatening mass destruction. Last month Trump promised nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia, and today is threatening nuclear war against Iran.

Reader Comments & Tidbits, Aug. 20, 2026

Reader Comments: Where Next for Wisconsin?; He Doesn't Care About the Crew; Gloves That Deliver Electric Shocks; ‘Zionist’ Has Become Toxic; Three Israeli Arab Parties Announce Joint Slate; Live-stream the Socialism Conference; Cartoons; and more...
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Culture

books

A Masterpiece of Criticism

Kathryn Hughes The Guardian
This joyous book takes readers on a literary adventure across 300 years of fiction, from Defoe to Zadie Smith.

food

What Does It Take to Work on a Cauliflower Crew?

David Bacon The Reality Check: Stories and Photographs by David Bacon
Today several hundred thousand Indigenous farmworkers from southern Mexico labor in fields, not just in California, but all over the U.S. Their culture, and their political and labor activism, are changing rural communities profoundly.

poetry

Road Sign on Interstate 5

Robert Peake
Poet Robert Peake asks us to consider what a road sign says about the lives and needs of migrants.

Labor

labor

The Labor Movement Is Divided Over How To Deal With AI

Michael Arria Truthout
It’s fine to say that [data centers will] be built with good-paying union jobs but what we’re also looking for on behalf of the working class is long-term sustainability of jobs. It doesn’t help if those jobs come at the cost of many long=term jobs.

labor

A Union of Unions: Revitalizing Labor Councils

Whitney Washington Convergence
Labor councils are important but often overlooked for building working-class power. This article takes us from Tennessee to Vermont to examine how these vital organizations are faring today, while honoring one of their champions, Vonda McDaniel.

Friday nite video

Was Mamdani's Mandarin AI? The Blooper Reel Reveals the Truth

Mamdani promoted free Broadway tickets for high-school students, speaking to them in Bengali, Mandarin, and Spanish. Critics accused Mamdani of using AI, so he released a blooper reel of his attempts to get each language right.

 

John Oliver: Trump & Crypto

How the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures have overshadowed their other businesses, they’ve created massive conflicts of interest, and what it all has to do with Fartcoin.
 

video

Donavan McKinney on his Primary Upset

Donavan McKinney, Democratic nominee to represent Detroit/Wayne County in Congress, on democratic socialism, corporate money, data centers and the need for Medicare for All