Inside stories of how activist staffers countered corporate lobbies “A wonderful read.” — ROBERT REICH “ Witty and penetrating…” — NORMAN ORNSTEIN “ This book is the story of a public servant … and his fellow activist staffers, whose valiant work on consumer protection has helped millions of Americans.” — RALPH NADER “A lively and thought- provoking book…” — JAMES A. THURBER “ This may be the most important political book written about our current political dysfunction…” — MATT MYERS Available now in jacketed cloth & ebook formats. Visit us at www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com. contents OCTOBER 2017 UP FRONT 6 The New Fight for Labor Rights 18 To survive, the labor movement needs to rethink its strategy. BY RACHEL M. COHEN 8 Losing Hearts and Minds How Trump quietly gutted a program to combat extremism. BY BENJAMIN POWERS 9 The Trump Tweetometer A look inside the president’s mind, based on his first seven months of tweets. 10 The Next Standing Rock Why is Canada green-lighting a pipeline that could kill the climate? BY BEN ADLER 12 Art of the Steal How Trump’s self-dealing helped make his book a best-seller. BY ALEX SHEPHARD COLUMNS 14 Deadbeat Democrats How Bill Clinton set the stage for the GOP’s war on the poor. BY BRYCE COVERT Lauren Underwood, 16 a nurse from Illinois, Redoing the Electoral Math is a candidate for Congress. It will take more than demographics to save the Democrats. BY JOHN B. JUDIS Running on Hope REVIEW 46 Rules for Radicals A new group of Obama aides aims to take down Trump. The right-wing economist who rigged But can Democrats win without a unified message? democracy for the rich. BY ALAN WOLFE BY BEN AUSTEN 51 Theory Conspiracy Laurent Binet sets a mystery among French intellectuals. BY SVEN BIRKERTS 54 Mean Streets David Simon’s The Deuce refuses to glamorize ’70s New York. BY RACHEL SYME 28 34 38 56 True Detective #AlwaysTrump Gone Baby Gone Land of the Ross Macdonald used noir to illuminate Maybe he’ll be impeached. Shadowy shell companies, Hermit King his time. BY NICHOLAS DAWIDOFF Or maybe he’ll be voted vacant houses, and unpaid Closed off from the world, 60 The Outsider out of office in 2020. But property taxes. In the wake North Korea weaves a The Dardenne brothers probe the liberal no matter how he leaves of the housing crisis, a militarized mind-set into conscience. BY CHRISTIAN LORENTZEN the White House, we’ll new breed of real estate the fabric of everyday never be rid of Trump— investor is destroying life. A glimpse inside the 62 War Stories How Russia’s foreign policy is rooted in and all that he represents America’s cities. propaganda machine. an epic myth. BY SOPHIE PINKHAM about America. BY RACHEL MONROE TEXT BY JEAN H. LEE BY JEET HEER PHOTOS BY CARL DE KEYZER 68 Backstory PHOTOGRAPH BY ADAM REYNOLDS POETRY 49 Sun BY HADARA BAR-NADAV KEVIN MIYAZAKI/REDUX MIYAZAKI/REDUX KEVIN COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY NATHANIEL WELCH/REDUX OCTOBER 2017 | 1 contributors Editor in Chief Ben Austen is a Chicago-based journalist whose work has appeared in Win McCormack Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, and The Atlantic. His book High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing will be Editor published in February 2018. RUNNING ON HOPE, P. 18 Eric Bates Sven Birkerts is the editor of the journal agni and the author of ten Literary Editor Digital Director books of literary criticism, including Changing the Subject: Art and Attention Laura Marsh Mindy Kay Bricker in the Internet Age. In 1983, he reviewed Umberto Eco’s novel The Name of Features Directors Executive Editor Sasha Belenky Ryan Kearney the Rose for the new republic. THEORY CONSPIRACY, P. 51 Theodore Ross Deputy Editor Managing Editor Ryu Spaeth is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., Rachel M. Cohen Laura Reston who focuses on cities, labor, and inequality. Her work has appeared in The Social Media Editor Assistant Editor Eric Armstrong American Prospect, Slate, and Vice. THE NEW FIGHT FOR LABOR RIGHTS, P. 6 Moira Donegan Senior Editors Editor at Large Brian Beutler Bryce Covert is an independent journalist who writes about the Bob Moser Jeet Heer economy. She is a contributing op-ed writer at The New York Times, and her News Editor Design Director articles about the history of welfare reform have appeared in The Nation, Alex Shephard Siung Tjia The Atlantic, and ThinkProgress. DEADBEAT DEMOCRATS, P. 14 Staff Writers Photo Director Emily Atkin Nicholas Dawidoff is the author of five books, including Pulitzer Prize Stephanie Heimann Clio Chang Production Manager Sarah Jones finalistThe Fly Swatter: Portrait of an Exceptional Character. His first book, Josephine Livingstone Steph Tan The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg, has been made into Graham Vyse an upcoming film starring Paul Rudd.TRUE DETECTIVE, P. 56 Contributing Editors Poetry Editor James Burnett, Alexander Chee, Cathy Park Hong Carl De Keyzer is a Belgian photographer with Magnum Photos. His Ben Crair, Michelle Dean, Siddhartha Deb, Michael Reporter-Researchers work explores political systems, religion, and the environment. He has won Eric Dyson, Paul Ford, Ted Rachelle Hampton Suzanne Monyak numerous awards for his photos, and his work has been published in The Genoways, William Giraldi, Dana Goldstein, Kathryn Joyce, Rachel Stone Guardian, The New Yorker, and Le Monde. LAND OF THE HERMIT KING, P. 38 Suki Kim, Maria Konnikova, Corby Kummer, Michelle Legro, Jen Percy, Jamil Smith, John B. Judis is an editor at large at Talking Points Memo and a columnist Graeme Wood, Robert Wright at the new republic. He is the co-author, with Ruy Teixeira, of The Emerging Democratic Majority. His latest book is The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics. Director of Marketing Associate Director REDOING THE ELECTORAL MATH, P. 16 and Revenue of Advertising Evelyn Frison Shawn Awan Jean H. Lee is a journalist and global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Audience and Controller Partnership Manager International Center for Scholars. She served as bureau chief of the David Myer Eliza Fish Associated Press’s Korean Peninsula operations for five years, becoming the Office Manager, NY Media Relations Manager first American reporter permitted to join Pyongyang’s foreign press corps Sarah Whalen Steph Leke in 2011 and opening the news agency’s Pyongyang bureau in 2012. Her Associate Publisher writing was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2013. LAND OF THE HERMIT Art Stupar KING, P. 38 President and Publisher Rachel Monroe is a writer based in Marfa, Texas. She was drawn to Hamilton Fish investigate abandoned houses—and who is responsible for them—after media coverage of Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore seemed to imply that residents are to blame for the city’s decline. Her new book about women, Published by Lake Avenue Publishing crime, and obsession will be published in 2019. GONE BABY GONE, P. 34 1 Union Square West New York, NY 10003 Sophie Pinkham is the author of Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Chairman Ukraine. Her last piece in the new republic, published in the September 2016 Win McCormack issue, was a review of Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s oral histories. WAR STORIES, P. 62 For subscription inquiries or problems call (800) 827-1289 is professor emeritus of political science at Boston College and Alan Wolfe For reprints and licensing visit www.TNRreprints.com a longtime contributor to the new republic. He is the author and editor of more than 20 books, including Does American Democracy Still Work? and The Future of Liberalism. RULES FOR RADICALS, P. 46 2 | NEW REPUBLIC politics for the people, by The People Our nearly 4,000 alumni around the globe are leaders and change-agents in government, politics, public relations, and public affairs. Learn more about how our programs put you in the room where it happens. gspm.gwu.edu GSPMgwu 805 21st Street, NW, Suite 401 | Washington, DC 20052 | 202.994.6000 | [email protected] The George Washington University does not unlawfully discriminate in its admissions programs against any person based on that person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. CPS_1718_9 Cultural experiences curated by the New Republic DESTINATION: DATES: OCTOBER 21-28, 2017 Explore Cuba through the lens of politics, culture and society with the New Republic. In an immersive week, COST: All-inclusive tour covers daily you will experience breakfast, most lunches and dinners, Cuba through: all accommodations, and all tours: $5185 - $5645 per person (double/ • Discussions with political and single occupancy) cultural experts on the ground • Open studios with artists Your TNRDISCOVER host: • Cultural tours of historic Charles Bittner landmarks and sites Specialist in educational trips to • Traditional Cuban food in Cuba and elsewhere; professor restaurants and homes in the sociology department at • And so much more… St. John’s University, New York City. REGISTER NOW – LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE For details, contact Charles Bittner [email protected] or 617-833-1435 Traveling under TNR’s People-to-People general license tnr_discovery_cuba_ad_052017_print_1.indd 1 5/24/17 1:14 PM from the stacks ELECTIONS, LIKE COTILLIONS and professional wrestling, involve a series of intricately orchestrated moves that are as ridiculous as they are time-honored. Two years before a presidential election, a flood of new political memoirs hits bookstores. Hillary Clinton peddled Hard Choices in 2014. Barack Obama floggedThe Audacity of Hope in 2006. And in 1998, fresh off a bruising coup in the House, Newt Gingrich traversed New Hampshire hawking Lessons Learned the Hard Way. The goal, as David Grann observed at the time in the new re- public, is simple: to present the author as an attractive candidate.