The Politics of Camping

Against the Grain

In the United States, few things seem as wholesome as camping, letting us temporarily escape the daily grind and commune with nature and each other. But Phoebe Young argues that camping has a complicated history, which tell us a lot about Americans’ notions of nature and the nation. She discusses the various forms that camping …

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Oakland’s Police Department has been a poster child for abusive and violent law enforcement. But award-winning journalist Darwin BondGraham argues that the OPD is exceptional only because of the scrutiny it’s received. He discusses the department’s history from the Red Scare of the 1920s to the Black Panthers in the 1960s to Occupy Oakland in … Continued


A number of things are bad for your health. Is economic inequality one of them? According to Stephen Bezruchka, U.S. population health lags behind that of dozens of other countries for two main reasons: extreme economic inequality and a lack of government support directed at early life. (Encore presentation.) Stephen Bezruchka, Inequality Kills Us All: COVID-19’s Health … Continued


Atlanta is a pivotal city for reasons cultural, economic, and political. And so the changes that the city and metropolitan area have undergone since the 1990s have been consequential, deepening class and racial inequality. As Dan Immergluck points out, these shifts were not the inevitable product of market forces, but the result of political decisions. … Continued