Weekend reading for June 29, 2024 – by The Ink

It’s been a special week, with the first debate now behind us, a momentous week of Supreme Court rulings that may change the way government regulation works, and the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision that reminds us what is at stake in American politics. We’re still processing everything, honestly, as we expect you to be too, and for us that means a lot of reading, thinking, and asking questions in the coming days.

Part

In this week’s readings (the links we compile each weekend for our paying subscribers), we’ve collected some great commentary on the court’s recent decisions and what they might mean for our lives. We’ve also found some great pieces that look at how we live on an even larger scale: looking back at civilization and forward to the future while cycling along the Silk Road, how the way we treat pigeons can teach us a lesson about how we treat each other, and why it might be worth making them radioactive to save rhinos.

As always, we hope that the articles we’ve collected will inspire, entertain, and remind everyone that the goals ahead are achievable, but there is still much work to be done.

Want to understand this week’s big Supreme Court ruling on the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case? Be sure to check out our interview with legal scholar Melissa Jacoby about how bankruptcy law has changed to benefit corporations and oligarchs and to punish everyday people – and what can be done to repair the damage.

How to Fix a Failed Bankruptcy System

Reproductive freedom in Idaho received a temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court this week, but to delve into the broader threat to abortion rights, we spoke with journalist Shefali Luthra, who told us about her two years of research into the damage caused by the Dobbs the reversal of the decision Deer and the abolition of the constitutional right to abortion.

A matter of life and death

Frustrated by the debate and concerned about it? To get insight into how the Biden administration really works, you’ll want to listen to the full audio of our conversation with Rep. Pramila Jayapal, in which she gives us some blunt advice for Biden, but also talks about how progressives have managed to work with the White House to make real progress.

FULL AUDIO: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on the progressives and Biden

A request for those who haven’t joined us yet: the interviews and essays we share here require research, editing, and more. We’re working hard and would love to bring in more writers and more voices. But we need your help to keep this going. Join us today and support the kind of independent media you want to exist.

When you’re in a restaurant or a hotel and you talk to the locals, there’s this sense that they feel like they’re living on borrowed time. Like the peace that they personally embody – through their mindset, through their way of life, through their spiritual leanings – is moving away from them without their consent. So peace is no longer representative of a real place, it becomes something that almost resembles a utopian state, it becomes harder and harder to defend. You meet peaceful people and they want to talk about it, because they feel like we’re drifting away. (Archive.org)