america
A Brief History of Botched Executions in America
Michelle Dean · 04/30/14 12:40PMFirst things first: The crime that brought Clayton Lockett to Oklahoma's death chamber did not present a hard case, as violent murders go. Lockett was sentenced to death almost 15 years ago for the murder of 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman, who he shot and then, with friends, buried alive off a country road. His guilt was not in dispute in his final set of appeals. The arguments were all focussed on the way he was going to die, about the sources and kinds of drugs that were going to kill him.
Donald Sterling's Obsession With Purity Is an American Tradition
Cord Jefferson · 04/29/14 12:10PMIt's tedious, but if you listen to the entirety of L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling's whiny, racist tirade, caught on tape by his girlfriend V. Stiviano and then widely disseminated this weekend, you can eventually get to the root of the couple's argument. It seems Sterling was upset that Stiviano, reportedly his mistress, had taken a photo with Magic Johnson and then posted that photo to her Instagram account.
Adam Weinstein · 04/22/14 10:36AM
Public Intellectual Deathmatch: Ta-Nehisi Coates & Jonathan Chait
Brendan O'Connor · 03/29/14 04:51PMTa-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic and Jonathan Chait of New York have, over the past week, been engaged in something equal parts duel and duet in the pixels of their respective magazine's websites. Their debate has plumbed the depths of race and racism in America, working out the questions of civic and historical responsibility in a public forum with respect and grace. As readers and citizens we are privileged to bear witness to this dialogue. They've also thrown some damn good shade at each other, so let's look at that.
From Peyote to Plan B: Your Guide to Today's Supreme Court Cases
Michelle Dean · 03/25/14 08:00AMNew Research: Nixon Wanted "Dirty Tricks" to Cover Up My Lai Massacre
Adam Weinstein · 03/24/14 02:21PMTime-Lapse GIF Proves The Gays Are Taking Over America
Adam Weinstein · 03/05/14 02:25PMHere's Why This Viral TV Pastor Thinks Interracial Marriage Is Wrong
Adam Weinstein · 02/17/14 01:46PMDonny Reagan runs the Happy Valley Church of Jesus Christ in Johnson City, Tennessee. This weekend, he was marked as "the most racist pastor in America" for the video sermon above. But Reagan's teaching is serious business, and it can teach the uninitiated a lot about American evangelicalism's dirtiest laundry.
In Wealth, Washington Was a Winner and Lincoln a Loser
Ken Layne · 02/17/14 12:00PMThe presidents we celebrate today were very different men. Abraham Lincoln loved to talk and debate and write and read books and be boring. George Washington was quiet and dignified, never wasting words. Abraham Lincoln led the United States into war over slavery. George Washington actually owned slaves. And in finances—the most important aspect of American life—Abraham Lincoln was a loser, while George Washington was the richest president ever.
Poor Americans Can Now Get Their Twinkies At Big Lots
Ken Layne · 02/11/14 02:16PMSome U.S. Olympic Athletes Really Hate This Viral Gay Luging Video
Adam Weinstein · 02/11/14 10:09AMIt's all fun and games, until some LGBT activists say your games are kinda gay.
Justin Bieber Licks Stripper's Nipple
Jordan Sargent · 02/01/14 02:43PMScant Snowfall Brings Southern United States to the Brink of Chaos
Adam Weinstein · 01/28/14 06:12PMAdam Weinstein · 01/27/14 05:15PM
Mississippi Will Support Morality by Denying Prisoners Marital Sex
Tom Scocca · 01/13/14 06:05PMFor more than a century, the state of Mississippi has allowed the inmates of its prison system to behave as if they are human beings capable of familial relationships, providing well-behaved prisoners the chance to briefly spend time alone with their spouses. On February 1, falling in line with prevailing trends in American justice, the state will stop allowing the visits.
Plunge Into the '80s/'90s Snapshot Glory of Internet K-Hole
Ken Layne · 01/08/14 02:23PMThe past does not become the past until we look at the old pictures in the present. Only then do we realize how weird everything was, especially in the shoddy 1980s, right when we thought The Future had arrived, what with the music videos and personal computers and scrambled soft-porn movies delivered directly to our parents' house via cable. America's only perfect website, Internet K-Hole (which has occasional/ridiculous nudity) is a functioning time machine. Use it.
Transformed Into White Gods: What Happens in America Without Love
David Byunghyun Lee · 01/04/14 01:28PMIt started before a friend told me that he wanted to date white women and before another friend told me “fuck white people.” It started before two 14-year-old girls on their way to a birthday party were crushed to death on the Yangju Highway, before George Bush put North Korea on the Axis of Evil, and even before either of my parents was born.