Day: June 21, 2019

The chart-topping viral star’s record absolutely slaps — and deconstructs music genres as we know them. What Lil Nas X does best is defy categorization. The 20-year-old rapper has reigned supreme on the Billboard charts for nearly three months straight with the single that rocketed him to national prominence, the “country trap” hit “Old Town Road.” But while that song was ironically bolstered by whining country fans who decried his blend of Soundcloud rap with…

The dangerous escalation of tensions from Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal to the downing of a US military drone. President Donald Trump said Friday that he called off a military strike on Iran, pulling the US back from the brink of a dramatic escalation with Tehran. There’s still a lot we don’t know about this attack-that-wasn’t, but tensions between the United States and Iran have been steadily building for months. The US pulled out…

He was a former classmate of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. President Donald Trump is expected to name Mark Esper as his next defense secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision. Esper is already set to become the acting defense secretary on Sunday after Trump’s original pick for the permanent role, Patrick Shanahan, decided not to seek confirmation due to a sensitive family matter. That opened the door for Esper, currently the Army’s…

Democrats are talking a lot about Medicare-for-all. But what exactly do they mean? Democratic candidates have run — and won — on a promise to fight to give all Americans access to government-run health care. A new Medicare-for-all bill in the House has more than 100 co-sponsors. But there are still real disagreements among Democrats. Some of the party’s 2020 presidential candidates have endorsed single payer, while others prefer more incremental improvements. They’ll soon start…

Every year, bands, artists, and crowds show up in a display of idealism and joy. The first time I spent the summer in Paris, a friend told me to keep my calendar free on the evening of June 21, the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. I assumed there was some kind of small-scale block party worth attending in central Paris. But no, he said: June 21 is the…

Trump has self-interested reasons to avoid a war. But he also wants to be seen as “tough.” Despite escalating tensions with Iran, contemplated military strikes, and hawkish advisers egging him on, President Donald Trump continues to insist that he really, truly does not want a war. So is he on the level? We don’t need to rely entirely on taking the president’s words in good faith. Trump has some very good, self-interested reasons to try…

The refrain “this is not normal” has been repeated among opponents of Donald Trump since before the 2016 election was decided. This certainly feels true to scholars of American politics and to the electorate at large. So what is “normal” and how can we determine whether Trump is in fact appealing to different motives than “normal” partisan battles? In some preliminary and ongoing research, we have found evidence that the appeal of Donald Trump is…